Terror on Trial: Family of Drone Victims Vows to Fight German Court Ruling

[polly7]

Published on
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
by Common Dreams

Faisal bin Ali Jaber, whose relatives were killed in 2012 strike, says he 'will not give up... it is—quite simply—a matter of life and death for us.'

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer

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Faisal bin Ali Jaber filed a constitutional claim against Germany last October following revelations that it helped the U.S. conduct covert drone strikes in Yemen, including one which killed two of Jaber's family members. (Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Three years after a U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed two civilians attending a wedding, a German court on Wednesday ruled against a member of the victims' family in a case that challenges international support for the so-called "War on Terror."

Faisal bin Ali Jaber was granted permission to appeal the court's decision after judges rejected his constitutional claim against Germany, filed last October following the deaths of Jaber's nephew and brother-in-law, killed in a U.S. drone strike on August 29, 2012 in the village of Khashamir.

The claim was filed after revelations that Ramstein Air Base, situated in southwest Germany but operated by the U.S. Air Force, is "crucial to facilitating American covert drone strikes in Yemen," according to legal charity Reprieve. Jaber is represented by Reprieve and the European Center for Human Rights.

Jaber could not testify in person because travel restrictions in Yemen—implemented over the Saudi Arabia-led military assault against Houthi rebels—prevented him from leaving the country. He had his statement read before the court on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama and German officials previously denied that Germany was involved in drone operations. However, a top-secret intelligence document leaked earlier this year confirmed that Ramstein "is the site of a satellite relay station that enables drone operators in the American Southwest to communicate with their remote aircraft in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and other targeted countries," as written by The Intercept, which published a report on the document in April.

Full article: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/05/27/terror-trial-family-drone-victims-vows-fight-german-court-ruling