The Constitutional Court ruled that Germany did not breach international law regarding US drone attacks from the Ramstein air base. Two Yemenis claimed relatives were killed in a 2012 drone strike. The court acknowledged Germany's obligation to protect human rights of foreigners but found no evidence of the US using unjustifiable criteria in distinguishing targets. It determined that a sufficient connection to German authority was not established in this incident, which is crucial for any accountability claims against Germany.
The German Federal Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that Germany did not violate international law by failing to strictly monitor or prevent US drone attacks carried out with the help of signals from the Ramstein air base.
The two Yemeni men bringing the case, Ahmed and Khalid bin Ali Jaber, said they lost some of their relatives in a US drone strike on the village of Khashamir in 2012 that occurred during a wedding meal of a male family member.
The court did state that Germany had a certain obligation to protect basic human rights even of foreigners living abroad. However, it was unable to establish that the US had employed unjustifiable criteria in its differentiating between military targets and civilians.
The court ruled that any attack would need to have a sufficient connection to German state authority for the obligation to hold, which could not be claimed in this case.
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