The Munster Higher Administrative Court has offered a ruling Tuesday calling on the German government to take “appropriate measures” related to US drone strikes launched from the Ramstein Air Base.
At the least, the court says Germany must determine if the drone strikes
are in line with international law, and that they should also be
prepared to press the US government to shift its policy to get back into
line with international law.
This was built around lawsuits by three Yemenis who had relatives
killed in US drone strikes which flew out of the Ramstein base. US
courts rejected legal complaints surrounding the killings, but the
Munster Court was willing to hear the case, and confirmed that Germany
has obligations to protect people who “legitimately fear a danger for
their lives and safety” from attacks coming out of Germany.
The German government argued that they saw no indications of US
violations in the attacks, but the court found that the government had
never properly assessed the facts, and needed to do so to make such
assurances sustainable.
German Court: Govt Must Question If US Drone Strikes Are Legal
Lawyers see case as limiting US drone operations out of Germany
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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