Speech by Commissioner Lahbib on Drones, Modern Warfare, and the Protection of International Humanitarian Law in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

In February, I was in Goma where I met humanitarian workers, visited Ndosho hospital, and spoke to people living with the consequences of this war.

Everywhere I went, I carried the same message: civilians must be protected. Humanitarian workers must be protected. International humanitarian law must be respected.

Less than three weeks later, a drone struck a residential building in Goma housing humanitarian workers and EU personnel. Karine Buisset, a UNICEF humanitarian worker, was killed. She had dedicated her work to helping children and families caught in conflict. She went to Goma to save lives. A drone took hers.

For me, that attack made this about more than technology. It is about a human life. Drones may allow war to be fought from further away but for the people below them, war has never felt closer. This is no longer an isolated threat.

For decades, the people of eastern DRC have lived through one of the world's longest humanitarian crises: armed groups, cross-border tensions, inter-ethnic violence, families forced from their homes, again and again. Millions of people across North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri are trapped in these cycles of violence and displacement.

If that were not enough, now a new threat is coming from the skies.

Drones used to belong to a handful of powerful militaries. Today they are cheap, easy to get, and spreading fast. In eastern DRC, different sides to the conflict are using them, including armed groups.

This changes how wars are fought. But it does not change the rules of war. That is my main message today: technology moves at lightning speed, but international humanitarian law still applies.

The principles of distinction, proportionality, precaution, and humanity were not written for one weapon or one era. They exist to protect people, whatever weapon is being used.