RT NewsBerlin has suspended the purchase of armed drones on the grounds that it “categorically rejects illegal killings.” This follows a report by Amnesty International that accused Merkel’s government of aiding the US with drone strikes in Pakistan.
A draft agreement between the Social Democrats and the Conservatives obtained by Der Spiegel condemns the use of drones for targeted attacks.
“We categorically reject illegal killings by drones. Germany will support the use of unmanned weapons systems for the purposes of international disarmament and arms control,” said the statement. The government says that before acquiring the remote-controlled craft, it must thoroughly examine “all associated civil and constitutional guidelines and ethical questions.”
In spite of significant opposition in Germany – 59 per cent of the population according to a Pew Research poll in 2012 – outgoing German defense minister, Thomas de Maziere, spent hundreds of millions of euros on drones that were not permitted to fly in German airspace.
“We cannot keep the stagecoach while others are developing the railway,” declared Maziere, who announced to the German public in May that talks were underway to discuss the purchase of US Predator drones and Israeli Heron drones.
However, with the formation of a new government in Germany following Chancellor Merkel’s reelection in September, the German policy on drones looks set to change. Both the Social Democrats and the Christian Socialist Union parties voiced their opposition to the deal, writes the Local.
‘License to kill’
Although the German government has criticized Washington’s use of the remote-controlled craft to carry out strikes, Amnesty International has accused Berlin of complicity in some attacks. In a reportpublished by the organization in October, Amnesty said it had data from Pakistani officials that Germany handed over key information on drone targets.
“Secret services in Germany and in other European states have worked together with the USA and its drone program in Pakistan,” said the report.
Amnesty has rejected Washington’s arguments that their targeted killings save lives and prevent terrorism, slamming them as “a license to kill.”
As part of the report on drone attacks, Amnesty investigated 45 targeted killing that took place between January 2012 and August 2013 in the tribal region of North Waziristan along the Pakistani border with Afghanistan.
Amnesty’s Pakistan expert, Mustafa Qadri said: “We are publishing this report to push governments, including Germany’s, to reveal its role in the US drone program.The German government must finally openly demand that the USA adheres to prevailing legal norms. German authorities cannot continue to support the USA’s illegal drone attacks.”
The government of Pakistan claims that drone attacks have claimed up to 900 civilian lives in the country and condemn them as a violation of sovereignty and human rights.
First the drones and then comes the robotic killing machines! What could possibly go wrong there ?