Drones Accountability Act

To direct the Director of the CIA to cease lethal drone operations, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the “ Drones Accountability Act 2. Drones out of CIA (a) The Central Intelligence Agency shall not own, operate, command, or control any armed unmanned aerial vehicle or any combat aircraft. (b) No member of the Armed Forces, and no other employee or contractor of the Department of Defense, may carry out any order or authorization from any employee or contractor of the Central Intelligence Agency to use lethal force. 3. Report requirement and legal opinion disclosure (a) The Department of Defense shall report to Congress on: (1) The existence and sufficiency of civilian protection mechanisms in accordance with international law binding to the United States via treaty including the 1949 Geneva Conventions for armed operations using unmanned aerial vehicle operations, including civilian casualty mitigation processes and post-strike investigatory procedures. (2) The methodology used to distinguish combatants from civilians prior to armed operations and after a strike has occurred. (3) The existence and sufficiency of standards for the identification of targets, including the reliability of signatures (4) The existence and sufficiency of processes for recognizing the immediate and long-term effects of drones strikes on the organization being targeted and on the country or region in which the strike takes place. (b) Legal opinions provide to Congress: Not later than thirty days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and once every three months thereafter, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, and the Central Intelligence Agency shall provide all legal opinions providing advice regarding the authority to use lethal force to justify operations. 4. Sense of Congress regarding moratorium on lethal drones until safeguards in place and limitation on use of funds used to target individuals not involved in imminent attack against U.S (a) It is the sense of Congress that a moratorium must be enforced against the lethal use of armed unmanned aerial vehicles until the Administration has presented and Congress has approved sufficient safeguards and sufficient oversight addressing highlighted in section 3(a)(i). (b) Until such safeguards are in place, no funds available for the United States Armed Forces or the Central Intelligence Agency may be obligated or expended for the purpose of using lethal force against an individual unless the individual presents an imminent threat to the United States, lethal force is the last resort, and the harm caused to civilians or civilian property is proportional and does not violate international humanitarian law adopted by the United States via treaty including the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Summary: Drones Accountability Act - Prohibits the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from operating or controlling armed unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) or combat aircraft. Prohibit any member of the U.S. Armed Forces and any other employee or contractor of the Department of Defense (DOD) from carrying out an order or authorization from any CIA employee or contractor to use lethal force. Requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to report to Congress on: (1) the existence and sufficiency of civilian protection mechanisms in accordance with international law concerning armed operations that use unmanned aerial operations; (2) the methodology used to distinguish combatants from civilians before armed operations and after a strike has occurred; (3) the existence and sufficiency of standards for the identification of targets and the sufficiency of intelligence sources and analysis where there is limited U.S. ground presence; and (4) the existence and sufficiency of processes for recognizing the effects of drone strikes on the organization being targeted and on the country or region in which the strike takes place. Requires the DOD, Department of Justice (DOJ), and CIA, once every three months, to provide Congress with all legal opinions giving advice with regard the authority to use lethal force in order to justify operations. Expresses the sense of Congress that a moratorium must be enforced against the lethal use of armed unmanned aerial vehicles until the Administration has presented, and Congress has approved, sufficient safeguards and sufficient oversight addressing the concerns highlighted in the report required by this Act. Bars, until such safeguards are in place, the obligation or expenditure of any funding available for the Armed Forces or the CIA for the purpose of using lethal force against an individual unless: (1) that individual presents an imminent threat to the United States, (2) lethal force is the last resort, and (3) the harm caused to civilians or civilian property is proportional and does not violate international humanitarian law.