Top German court dismisses lawsuit challenging US drone operations via Ramstein

BERLIN

Germany does not violate international law by allowing US drone operations via the Ramstein Air Base, the country's top court ruled on Tuesday.

The Federal Constitutional Court dismissed a complaint filed by two Yemeni citizens whose relatives were killed in a 2012 US drone strike in their homeland.

Despite Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany playing a central role in US targeted killings via drone strikes in the Middle East, the court determined the German government is not required to take action.

In its ruling, the court acknowledged that while Germany has a general mandate to protect and safeguard core principles of international humanitarian law, it did not identify "a serious risk of a systematic violation of applicable public international law" during such drone operations.

"The fact that the Basic Law binds the Federal Republic of Germany to the international community and commits German state authority to international cooperation must also be taken into consideration," the judges said in their ruling.

They added: "It is a constitutionally enshrined goal to guarantee the Federal Republic of Germany's capacity to act and form coalitions in the context of foreign policy and to ensure its participation in international cooperation."

The judges further claimed that Germany’s capacity to form coalitions “is a constitutional interest” that must also be taken into account when specifying extraterritorial duties of protection.

'Our faith in law is shaken'

Ahmed and Khaled bin Ali Jaber, who lost family members in the 2012 US drone attack, sharply criticized the court ruling, saying their faith in international law has been shaken.

"We have been fighting for justice for 13 years now, ever since Salem and Waleed were violently ripped from us by an American missile. We fought this case not only for them, but for every innocent victim of a missile strike, in Yemen and around the world," they said in a joint statement.

"To hear the court say that Germany had no duty to protect them, despite facilitating the strike that killed them, compounds that pain. This is a dangerous and disturbing ruling that suggests countries that provide assistance to the US assassination program bear no responsibility when civilians are killed," they warned.

The case stems from a 2012 US drone attack in the Yemeni village of Khashamer that killed two members of the bin Ali Jaber family. The family filed a lawsuit against the German government with the Cologne Administrative Court in 2014, demanding Germany stop allowing Ramstein to be used for US drone attacks that violate international law.

While the Munster Higher Administrative Court ruled in a 2019 appeal that Germany has a constitutional duty to protect those potentially affected by US drone missions conducted via Ramstein, the Federal Administrative Court overturned this decision in 2020. Ahmed and Khaled bin Ali Jaber subsequently filed a constitutional complaint in 2021.