FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2014
Press Contacts:
Adam Sarvana (Grijalva) –
(202) 225-2435
Mike Casca (Ellison) –
(202) 225-4755
CPC CO-CHAIRS CALL FOR CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT ON DRONES: HUMAN RIGHTS MUST BE A PRIORITY
WASHINGTON
— Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Co-Chairs Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison
(D-Minn.) released the following statement after a vote by the United Nations Human Rights Council on the use of drones:
“Today’s
vote at the United Nations reinforces the need for greater oversight of
the U.S. drone program. Instead of working closely with the
international community to help strengthen current
international standards on the use of drones, the U.S. government
decided to boycott a discussion of the draft resolution. We are troubled
by the ease with which dialogue and diplomacy—values at the center of
the president’s foreign policy—were cast aside
in this debate.
“Our
national security would be stronger with international standards
regarding the use of drones. No country has a monopoly on armed drone
technology. As of 2011,
76 nations had drone technology of some kind.
It
is clearly in our interest to help establish the norms and rules that
will govern the use of drones by all nations in the future.
“Similarly,
it’s important to ensure that the American people and our allies
understand the legal justification and on-the-ground impact of our drone
policy. The current lack of transparency harms
our relationships with other countries and erodes our ability to
collaborate on key global security issues.
“Today’s
vote highlights the need for Congress to play a larger role in
overseeing and regulating the use of lethal force abroad. Requiring that
our intelligence agencies provide an annual public
accounting of the number of civilian casualties caused by drone strikes
overseas—a measure included in the proposed Fiscal Year 2014
Intelligence Authorization Act —would be a good start.
“Members
of the CPC are ready to work with our colleagues and the administration
to ensure that our policies are transparent, compliant with existing
international law, and beneficial to our long-term
national security.”
Related posts
(See SUPPORT the "Come Clean on Drone Killings" Act (Schiff/Jones HR 4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act) )
A 2013 U.N. report makes it clear that the U.S. has to report fully on all its drone attacks.
(See 2014: The Year of Transparency (for U.S. Drone Use)?)
The reason the Administration is hiding truth about drones is that they don't have a satisfactory answer for how decisions about drone strikes are made. As we have known all along, we need the public to think about how crummy the whole drone program is, and then they will be ready to be on our side. The best way to get them really thinking is to shine a spotlight on the secrecy, evasiveness, and deceit involved in the U.S. drone program.
(See Drone Killings: Come Clean )
An Insider's Guide to the 7 S's (surveillance, secrecy, and assassinations) in the 2014 Midterms: linchpin races, scandal, principle, drone testing, and some "special" cases.
(See Will the 2014 Midterms be a Referendum on Obama's Surveillance, Secrecy, and Assassinations?)
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