The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig concluded that the government has no obligation to guarantee US strikes are in line with humanitarian law beyond basic assurances from US authorities, overturning a ruling from last year that made Berlin partially responsible for such operations.
The case was brought in 2014 by human rights groups on behalf of three Yemeni plaintiffs, who charge that family members were killed by American drones in 2012, and that those strikes used flight control data relayed through the US air base in Ramstein, Germany. One of the plaintiffs, Faisal bin Ali Jaber, called Wednesday’s ruling a “severe blow.”
“My family cannot live free from fear while these drones, flown with Germany’s help, hover over our community in Yemen, threatening to bring death and destruction,” he said.
Reprieve said the plaintiffs in the case are now considering a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court, the highest judicial body in Germany, in hopes of reviving the previous ruling pressing Berlin to perform due diligence for the lethal American strikes.
That Washington uses the Ramstein air base as a crucial hub in its drone war was long kept secret by German authorities, only acknowledging the operations in 2016 following years of rumors and unofficial reports. The base has drawn periodic protests by antiwar activists since, who’ve demanded that the German government stop abetting strikes that could constitute war crimes.
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