The European Parliament voted Thursday to condemn the covert drone strikes that have killed and maimed scores of civilians in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen.
The vote won a majority by 534 to 49. The resolution, sponsored by the Green Party, with backing from multiple other political parties, demands that EU Member States “do not perpetrate unlawful targeted killings or facilitate such killings by other states”, and calls on them to “oppose and ban practices of extra judicial targeted killings.”
The resolution seeks to apply further pressure on countries which participate in the CIA’s highly contentious target killing program, which has been deemed extra judicial and is highly unpopular both in Europe and the United States. E.U. member states such as the U.K. and Germany would be required to disclose the full extent of their involvement in the CIA’s covert program, both through intelligence-sharing and the provision of infrastructure at U.S. airbases on their soil.
The resolution also notes that “drone strikes by a State on the territory of another State without the consent of the latter constitute a violation of international law and of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of that country”.
Last week London based legal charity Reprieve filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) concerning the involvement of NATO member states in facilitating strikes in Pakistan. The complaint highlighted the case of Kareem Khan, whose civilian brother and son were killed in a 2009 strike in the Waziristan area of Pakistan. Mr Khan has in recent days met with Parliamentarians from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands to discuss the impact of drone strikes in the area.
Kat Craig, Reprieve’s Legal Director said: “Today’s vote represents a triumph of conscience by MEPs, who have issued a clear call to national European governments to come clean on their complicity with the CIA’s illegal drones programme, and bring it to an immediate halt. This should be a wake-up call to countries like the UK and Germany; they need to clean up their act not only by ensuring that they stop cooperating with extrajudicial killings, but also by pressuring the US for greater transparency and accountability.”