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**. Professor of Human Rights Law, University of Pretoria and United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Professor of Public International Law, University of Oxford, Co-Investigator on the Individualization of War Project funded by the European Research Council and Yamani Fellow, St Peter's College, Oxford. Dapo is grateful to Franziska Oehm for her assistance with the preparation of this article; Lecturer in Law, University of Reading; Researcher, Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa, University of Pretoria and Lecturer of Law at Midlands State University, Zimbabwe.
I.
Introduction
States have and will continue to develop new methods of employing lethal force. On the horizon, for example, are developments in autonomous robotic systems1and nano- and biotechnology,2which raise a plethora of complex issues that the international community must address in coordinated ways. Armed drones (or 'unmanned aerial vehicles', or UAVs, fitted with weapons), called here merely 'drones', have moved from the horizon into the realm of the known. The attraction of drones is clear--in particular, they provide a strategic advantage of the deployment of deadly force against a remote target without exposing one's own forces to risks.
During the past decade or so, many States have become increasingly reliant on unmanned systems and in particular drones to deliver force in the context of military operations.3By the end of 2013, the US, for example, had over 20,000 unmanned systems.4Drones have not only been used by the UK, USA, Israel and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in operations outside their territory (in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Somalia, Gaza and Syria), they have also been used by Pakistan, Iraq and Nigeria within their own territory.5In Pakistan, for example, it was reported that between 2004 and 2014, a minimum of 2,300 people were killed by US drone strikes.6Of that number, 420 have been identified as civilians, amongst which were approximately 150 children.7In Yemen, at least 300 people have been killed to date, amongst them a minimum of 30 civilians.8
In spite of concerns that have been raised about them, drones are clearly here to stay. Indeed, it might even be said that unmanned systems, including drones, are the future of...