Washington, February 02: Amnesty International has condemned the United States over its illegal assassination drone attacks in Pakistan.
In a statement on Tuesday, the group asked Washington to disclose details of the legal and factual basis for the use of drones in Pakistan.
Amnesty International also called for the US to monitor civilian casualties inflicted by drone attacks in Pakistan.
“The US authorities must give a detailed explanation of how these strikes are lawful and what is being done to monitor civilian casualties and ensure proper accountability,” Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director Sam Zarifi said.
The statement came after US President Barack Obama defended the use of unmanned aircraft in a rare public acknowledgment on Monday.
The US president said that the strikes targeted “al Qaeda suspects who are up in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
US drone attacks in Pakistan, which are carried out by the CIA, have doubled during the Obama administration.
Washington claims that the unmanned aircraft target militants and their strongholds, but victims of such attacks have been predominantly civilians.
Amnesty said because of the security situation and difficulty in accessing the terrain it has been impossible for organizations like Amnesty International to verify the number of civilian casualties caused by the drones.
The UN and the Pakistani government have condemned the US use of combat drones as a blatant violation of international law.
——Agencies