The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe has ruled that the use of the Ramstein US base for drone operations in Yemen does not violate international law, thereby dismissing the lawsuit of the citizens of Yemen.
Germany does not violate international law if it does not stricter the use of the US air base Ramstein in Rhineland-Palck to manage US drones operations in Yemen. This was decided on Tuesday by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, which rejected the complaint of two citizens of Yemen. TASR informs about this with reference to AP and AFP.
The complainants claimed that two of their relatives lost their lives in Yemen in the attack of drones belonging to the US Army. Previously, they lived in constant fear for recurring attacks that the victims claimed among civilians. According to them, Germany is partially responsible for the attack, as drones are controlled by signals transmitted through the Ramstein base.
Drone operations in Yemen
The US regularly carries out drone attacks on the destinations in Yemen, part of which is controlled by the rebels of the Huses attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea having a link to Israel. Human rights activists repeatedly criticize the so -called. targeted killing (Signature Killing) in which persons are liquidated on the basis of suspicion.
The case has been dealing with the courts for more than ten years. Initially, the action was dismissed in 2015, but the higher administrative court in Münster ordered in 2019 to investigate the legality of the use of Ramstein air base on such attacks. This regulation was subsequently annulled by the Federal Court.
The assurance from the US
The German Defense Ministry said Berlin received repeated assurances from Washington that no drones were discharged, controlled or managed from Germany and that US forces observe international law.
Ramstein is an important data center for the American army. Drones do not start from there and are not directly operated from there. The data is sent from the US to Ramstein with cables and from there it is transmitted through a satellite relay station.
