Global Policy Forum

The UN has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles to the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo for surveillance in aid of peacekeepers mandated under MONUSCO. The use of drones comes after earlier this year UN soldiers were used for the first time in battle enforcing the UN’s resolutions after the bloodshed in the Congo had carried on. The controversial use of drones by the UN raises eyebrows to where the organization is moving with its mission.

5 December, 2013

UN uses drones in Eastern Congo

For the first time, the UN has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles to the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for surveillance in aid of its mission MONUSCO.

MONUSCO was established on 1 July 2010, by the Security Council, building on the prior United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission MONUC to reflect the new phase reached in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “The new mission was authorized to use all necessary means to carry out its mandate relating, among other things, to the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence and to support the Government of the DRC in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts.”[1] As the bloodshed has continued and peace has not been achieved the UN has taken the decision to deploy troops followed by surveillance drones to the Congo. Although the drones are not used for targeted killings and are purely for surveillance use, the UN’s decision to go forth with drones in its missions is being heavily debated.

Especially the socalled "Intervention Brigade", which was approved in March 2013 and for the first time sends UN troops into battle in a civil war since the Korean War, raises eyebrows to the use of the drones beyond reconnaisance. The Global Observatory notes that: “The generic term “drone” is associated with America’s offensive counterterrorism measures, the far-reaching projection of US military power, extrajudicial killings, and violations of sovereignty, human rights, and moral warfare. As a result of this emotive debate, Ladsous went to great lengths to stress that UAVs deployed by the United Nations would be unarmed, and were no more lethal than “flying cameras” to be used to improve situational awareness and “exert some deterrents over all those people who move around with bad intentions in that particular area.”[3]

The UN is aware of the drones’ reputation for targeted killing especially outside of the United States but has said that it sees the use of drones for surveillance as necessary and that in effect the drones are not more than objects to enable cameras to survey the area, and improve the safety of its troops in the Congo. [4] The drones allow the UN to follow the movements of armed groups, populations and the arms that are being carried by people on the ground all from visuals being made by the drones’ cameras from up to 3km above ground. [5] This inevitably allows the UN to guide its troops into safety and to accurately warn of imminent danger or settlements that are in danger.

The use of drones comes after earlier this year UN soldiers were used for the first time in battle enforcing the UN’s responsibility to protect after the bloodshed in the Congo carried on. The shift from the UN Organization as an observer, commentator and enforcer to an active participant in the battlefield marks a point in history that can be seen as detrimental or favorable to the UN and its missions, or as the Economist puts it: "The starting point ought to be extreme caution. Getting “blue helmets” to knock out one side in a civil war in the name of the rest of the world could taint the entire machinery of global peacekeeping. The UN’s neutrality is a valued asset. Risking it can be justified only as a last resort and when a mission enjoys broad international approval."[6]