Search: drones
26 Oct Chase Madar on the Weaponisation of Human Rights
...of government are weighing in on how wars should be fought: in the United States, the phrase “human rights-based approach to drones” passes without much comment in the legal academy and mainstream media. As the grandees of the human rights movement enter high office throughout North America and Western Europe, what is the effect of this legal doctrine on warfare–and vice versa?Will this blossoming relationship bring about more humanity in warfare? Or is human rights being conscripted into ever more militarized foreign policy? SOAS has now made the video of...
19 Aug Emerging Voices: Immigration, Iris-Scanning and iBorderCTRL–The Human Rights Impacts of Technological Experiments in Migration
...the coercive circumstances masquerade as efficiency and better service delivery. Fortifying the Border Autonomous technologies are increasingly used in securing border spaces. FRONTEX, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, has been testing unpiloted military-grade drones in the Mediterranean for the surveillance and interdiction of migrant vessels hoping to reach European shores to file asylum applications. These technologies can have drastic results. While ‘smart-border’ technologies have been called a more ‘humane’ alternative to the Trump Administration’s physical wall, using new surveillance technologies along the US-Mexico border have more than tripled...04 Jun Weekday News Wrap: Monday, June 4, 2012
Perhaps as a good primer to our upcoming book discussion this week, a few drone-related news items: Despite Pakistan’s requests to the US to stop the program, the third drone strike in Pakistan in as many days has taken its toll on new victims; irrespective of the method of civilian or combatant counting, there are at least 27 dead. The Washington Post points out that drone strikes in Yemen raise legal questions. Canada has come out in support of the US’ use of drones. The UN Committee on Torture has...
27 Nov Symposium on Open Source Investigation Labs: AI for Open Source Investigation
...of interest is well-defined. An example would be identifying a cat in an image. Since we can provide a large training data set of images, which contain images with cats, without cats, with cats of different sizes or types, the ML algorithm can derive a pattern accurately. Contrast this with identifying a novel weapon, where the training data would be extremely small and the new drone might have features that vary from existing drones. In such cases, ML algorithms are shown not to perform well and thus require extensive human...
18 Dec The War on Drugs is not a War (Part II): Classification Challenges
...own territory. From a factual standpoint, both the organization and intensity criteria have periodically approached the IHL threshold. Major cartels—such as the Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and Los Zetas—possess clear command hierarchies, internal discipline, and the logistical capacity to conduct sustained military-style operations. Their arsenals include assault rifles, explosives, armored vehicles, and weaponized drones, while their recruitment structures, financing channels, and territorial control exhibit a degree of institutionalization that far exceeds ordinary criminality. Episodes such as the prolonged Ciudad Mier clashes in Tamaulipas (2010–2012), the Tanhuato...12 Mar Weekday News Wrap: Tuesday, March 12, 2013
...“Commission of Inquiry” by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate potential human rights abuses, calling it a “plot” against their nation filled with “faked material … invented by the hostile forces, defectors and other rabbles.” A British judge has delayed the decision on Islamic Cleric Abu Qatada’s deportation until the end of this month. The Volokh Conspiracy has a post about ICC jurisdiction over Israeli settlements. Foreign Policy weighs in on drones and reports that not only do more countries have access to them, they’re becoming smaller and smarter....30 May Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, May 30, 2012
...count of genocide by murder and one count of crimes against humanity by murder. The UN is going to release a warning about the Flame computer virus. Lawfare offers more insight about the virus, as does Foreign Policy. And with more context of viruses, generally, Homeland Security Watch urges everyone to stop calling all cyber somethings “cyber attacks.” After yesterday’s New York Times story about Obama and targeted killings pointed out by our own Deborah Pearlstein, Foreign Policy mapped where the drones are. Talks are underway in Addis Ababa to...