The Legality of the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) (Drones) for Military Purpose: The Ethiopian Perspective
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Date
2017-04
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abstract
The Legality of the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) (Drone); The Ethiopian
perspective is a study that assess the legal framework governing the use of Drones by state
actors like the Ethiopian government. This is so and remains significant because on one hand,
the current state of affairs affirms that countries are increasingly importing Drone technology or
at best producing it locally to modernize their respective military powers which in effect is
having its own implications on their commitment towards the use force. On the other hand, the
actual deployment of Drones particularly under the context of the fight against terrorism raises
other questions of adherence to well established rules and principles of armed conflicts. These
questions are not comprehensively addressed because the majority of scholars and experts are
divided based on the different approaches regarding the applicability of the existing legal
regimes of Jus ad Bellum and Jus en Belo. However, this study follows the complimentarity
approach not only to disseminate the approach but also to be as comprehensive as possible in
making the assessment and more importantly it is to establish that it is the right to life which is a
none-derogable right that would be violated if the use of Drones is found to be unregulated or
illegal.
Finally, because states do not only differ in their technological advancement and level of
development but also in their sphere of international influence it is also to make
recommendations appropriate to the practice in Drone use starting from states like the United
States of America and then appropriate also with the stature of states like the Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.