US DronesThe United Nations has warned Washington about indiscriminate use of drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying that it may be breaking humanitarian law.

The UN rights investigator said the United States has done nothing to demonstrate that its not randomly killing civilians in violation of international law through the use of drones.

`My concern is that these drones these predators are being operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law,` UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Philip Alston told a press conference on Tuesday, 27 October.

Mr. Alston is also a professor of law at New York University and co-chair of the law school`s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice.

`The onus is on the government of the United States to reveal more about the ways in which it makes sure arbitrary extrajudicial executions aren`t in fact being carried out through the use of these weapons,` the top official added.

The UN investigator also criticized Washington for refusing to respond to UN concerns regarding the use of drone aircrafts in the troubled South Asian region.

`We need the United States to be more up front otherwise you have the really problematic bottom line that the CIA is running a program that is killing significant numbers of people and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws,` Alston stressed.

Investigative reporter Jane Mayer of The New Yorker magazine revealed last week the number of US drone strikes in Pakistan has risen dramatically under President Obama. During his first nine-and-a-half months in office, Obama authorized at least forty-one CIA missile strikes in Pakistan, a rate of approximately one bombing a week. That`s as many drone attacks as President Bush sanctioned in his final three years in office. The attacks have killed between 326 and 538 people, that`s according to Jane Mayer. She writes, quote, there is no longer any doubt that targeted killing has become official US policy.

US strikes with remote-controlled aircraft against Al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan have often resulted in civilian deaths and drawn bitter criticism from local populations.

Back in June, the US told the UN Rights Council that it has an extensive legal framework to respond to unlawful drone killings.

Washington also said that the UN investigator did not have the mandate to cover military and intelligence issues.

Philip Alston further said at the New York press briefing `I would like to know the legal basis upon which the United States is operating, in other words... who is running the program, what accountability mechanisms are in place in relation to that,` Alston said.

`Secondly, what precautions the United States is taking to ensure that these weapons are used strictly for purposes consistent with international humanitarian law.

`Third, what sort of review mechanism is there to evaluate when these weapons have been used? Those are the issues I`d like to see addressed,` the UN official said.