Bombing Civilians The Impact of

Military Use of Air Space

by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne

( May 7,
2015, Montreal, Sri Lanka Guardian) CNN recently reported a claim by Amnesty
International that Syrian forces have dropped barrel bombs on Aleppo schools,
hospitals, mosques and market and that atrocities by government forces and
opposition groups have made life for civilians increasingly unbearable. The report
goes on to say that barrel bombs oil drums filled with explosives and shrapnel and
dropped by aircraft killed more than 3,000 civilians in Aleppo governorate last year.
Not far away, in Yemen, aerial attacks which affected civilian life were carried out
incessantly in recent times, provoking the United Nations to condemn the coalition
attacks led by Saudi Arabia on Sanaa airport saying it hindered the travel of
humanitarian aid workers helping those affected.
This is not a new phenomenon. In July 2006, Israeli military forces bombed the Beirut
Rafic El Hariry International Airport, causing a grave hazard to international civil
aviation. The attack also destroyed the roads and bridges leading to the airport,
thereby fully paralyzing the air traffic to and from the airport. The Lebanese authorities
claimed that Israel also bombed vital facilities at alternative airports at Ryaq and
Qolyat., leading to a total halt of air traffic to and from Lebanon.
Earlier, on 4 December 2001, Israeli military forces attacked Gaza International

airport, destroyed air navigation facilities and bombarded runways and taxiways until
the airport became unserviceable. It was reported that, when the Palestinian Authority
attempted a repair on 11 January 2002, the Israeli military forces bombarded once
again the airport and its facilities by aircraft, artillery and tanks, thereby destroying the
runway, the taxiways and all facilities.
Drones
One of the most dangerous threats to civilians is the damage to life and limb posed by
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or drones as they are called. A UAS is a self
piloted or remotely piloted aircraft that can carry cameras, sensors, communications
equipment or other payloads. They have been used to conduct reconnaissance and
intelligence-gathering for nearly sixty years (since the 1950s). The future role of the
UAS is a more challenging one which, in addition to its current uses will include
involvement in combat missions. The issues and challenges that UAS bring to civil
aviation can be bifurcated into two main areas. The first concerns airworthiness
regulations which are required to ensure that a UAS is built, maintained and operated
at high standards that ensure the safety of all involved including crew and passengers
of manned civilian and military aircraft with which UAS will share de-segregated
airspace as well as persons and property on the ground. There is currently no
international Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) adopted under the
auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization applicable to the UAS
although UAS are increasingly requiring access to all categories of airspace including
non segregated airspace.
The second challenge is more far reaching and concerns the possibility of the UAS
encroaching on air traffic control (ATC) functions in non segregated airspace. In doing
so, UAS should not place an added burden and demands on airspace management
and the flow of general air traffic within the en-route air space structure which must not
be impeded by the presence of UAS. In this context, the priority would lie in collision
avoidance, primarily through effective separation of aircraft by which aircraft could be
kept apart by the application of appropriate separation minima. The two key players in
this exercise would be the pilot of the manned aircraft involved and the air navigation
service provider who would be jointly or severally liable if a separation minima were
compromised.
Even though there are no international regulations applicable to UAS, it is clear that
there are certain rules that States are required to adhere to in order to ensure that
UAS operated under their control do not adversely affect civil air transport.
Discussions at the international level leave no room for doubt that there is an existing
regime that addresses the safety of de-segregated air space when it comes to the
operation of civil and State aircraft. This regime derives its legal legitimacy from the
principles of State responsibility which are now accepted as binding on States. Article
1 of the Articles of Responsibility of the International Law Commission (ILC) expressly
stipulates that every internationally wrongful act entails the international responsibility
of a State.

Missile Launching
On 5 July 2006, nuclear missiles launched by the Democratic Peoples Republic of
Korea (DPRK) over the Pacific Ocean crossed several international air routes over the
high seas. It was further revealed that, when extrapolating the projected paths of
some of the missiles, it appeared that they could have interfered with many more air
routes, both over Japan and the air space of the North Pacific Ocean..
The consequences of the nuclear missile firings by DPRK brought to bear the hazards
and grave dangers such activities pose to civil aviation. This was not the first instance
of its kind. A similar incident took place on 31 August 1998 in the same vicinity in
which North Korean missiles were fired. where an object propelled by rockets was
launched by a North Korea and a part of the object hit the sea in the Pacific Ocean off
the coast of Sanriku in northeastern Japan. The impact area of the object was in the
vicinity of the international airway A590 which is known as composing NOPAC
Composite Route System, a trunk route connecting Asia and North America where
some 180 flights of various countries fly every day.
From an aeronautical perspective, Annex 11 to the Chicago Convention, which deals
with the subject of air traffic services, lays down requirements for coordination of
activities that are potentially hazardous to civil aircraft. Standard 2.17.1 stipulates that
arrangements for activities potentially hazardous to civil aircraft, whether over the
territory of a State or over the high seas, shall be coordinated with the appropriate air
traffic services authorities, such coordination to be effected early enough to permit
timely promulgation of information regarding the activities in accordance with the
provisions of Annex 15 to the Chicago Convention. Standard 2.17.2 of Annex 11
explains that the objective of the coordination referred to in the earlier provision shall
be to achieve the best arrangements that are calculated to avoid hazards to civil
aircraft and minimize interference with the normal operations of aircraft.
MANPADS
Man Portable Air defence Systems (MANPADS) is another ominous threat posing
serious danger to human life, as was seen in MH 17 where a Malaysian Airlines flight ,
operated by a Boeing 777 -200ER aircraft flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on
17 July 2014, and carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew, was shot down by a BUK
surface to air missile over Donetsk Oblast in Eastern Ukraine, while at an altitude of
10,000 meters. Two thirds of the passengers on board were of Dutch origin. All
those on board perished.
A similar event had occurred in September 1983 when a Russian SU-15 Interceptor
plane shot down a Korean Airlines Boeing 747 aircraft operating flight KE 007 bound
from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage. The plane was destroyed over Sakhalin
Island while navigating over prohibited Russian airspace. All 269 passengers and crew
on board died.
Earlier, the worlds attention to the deadly threat posed by MANPADS was drawn in
November 2002 when there was an unsuccessful attempt to bring down a civilian

aircraft leaving Mombasa, Kenya. Over the past 35 years, significant developments
have taken place in dangerous weapons systems creating more opportunities for
terrorists. The ready acceptance of new modern technologies by the international
community and our growing dependence on them have created many targets, such as
nuclear and civil aircraft in flight. Similarly, developments in electronics and
microelectronics, and the trend towards miniaturization and simplification have
resulted in a greater availability of tactical weapons with longer ranges and more
accuracy that are also simpler to operate.
Conclusion
With regard to the threat envisioned in the use of military warfare on civil aviation
activity, international law and politics are two key players that play an important role.
Although airspace is common and States have sovereignty over the airspace above
their territories, this does not enable the military or warring factions to use such air
space arbitrarily. There are strict principles with regard to aerial military activity and
prohibition of the use of military warfare on civilian populations and properties. These
must be strictly adhered to in the basis of political consensus.
One of the cardinal principles enunciated by the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) is that persons hors de combat and those who do not take a direct part
in hostilities are entitled to respect for their lives and physical and moral integrity. They
should, in all circumstances, be protected and treated humanely without any adverse
distinctions. It is obvious that the protection referred to must come from the State and
no one else.
Posted by Thavam