Does Article 2 of the original law of Germany guarantee “right to right and physical integrity”, so when people are at least killed away from Germany away from Germany with indirect German aid? What was the task of answering this difficult question on Tuesday, equivalent to the Federal Constitutional Court, the US Supreme Court.
The case was brought by two people whose relatives were killed in 2012 in a target American drone strike in Yemen. The technical infrastructure of the US Air Base in Ramstein was used in strike. In this specific case, the case was dismissed as baseless.
German foreign and security policy
However, in the ruling future, there is not a full cart blanch for potentially fatal drone missions supported by ground in Germany. According to the official argument of the court, Germany should protect fundamental human rights and the main norms of international human law abroad.
However, the court allowed the federal government a significant leve to determine its foreign and security policy.
Now the mandate declared is subject to two conditions: connections with the German State Authority and serious risk that international law can be systematically violated.
According to the Constitutional Court, this was not the case with a drone strike in Yemen. The court ruled that the US in its fight against international terrorism took adequate accounts of the safety of citizens, and referred to “legitimate military goals”.
Yemen attack killed citizens
However, in a controlled attack from Ramstein, innocent people along with suspected militants were killed, who criticized Frewberg’s legal scholar Paulina Starsky on German TV channel Phoenix: “If they don’t know that they are actually attacking, they would believe that it is a citizen.”
This is why the targeted murders committed by the state actors are considered to be highly problematic from the perspective of a humanitarian and international law.
Why Ramstein is so important for America
If the US Air Force can move its missiles directly from the US region to its goals, it will not require logistics support from its Ramstein Airbase. But due to the curvature of the Earth, direct radio links between the US and Yemen are not possible. This is why the signs are redirected through Ramstein, which makes the base unavoidable for attacks in the Middle East. The process is very simple: a drone pilot sits in Florida, which is connected to the Ramstein hub via a fiberoptic cable, guides a deadly weapon to its goal.
Plain frustrated, federal government gave relief
The lawyer representing the plaintiff failed by Yemen, Andreas Sholar called the decision of the Constitutional Court as painful and disappointing.
But he said that now the duty of security provides guidelines for future struggles: “After today, there may be a situation in which German courts may be violated by human rights and international laws.”
The federal government reacted with relief. State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Nils Schmid, emphasized that compliance with international law was always a priority. At the same time, O, the ruling, gave the German security policy “necessary Leave” to be a reliable ally.
This article was original in German.
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