Judgment of the Constitutional Court: Complaint about US drone attacks failed via Ramstein

The Federal Republic of Germany does not violate international law if they are drone missions in the United States abroad About the Ramstein base Ramstein to be controlled, not checked or prevented more sharply, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe decided.

With the judgment announced on Tuesday, the second Senate dismissed the constitutional complaint of two citizens living in Yemen. The case has been concerned with the German judiciary for more than ten years (Az. 2 BvR 508/21). After the rejection of a constitutional complaint against US drone inserts, which is technically controlled by the Air Base Ramstein in the Palatinate, the Federal Government is rejected in its legal opinion.

However, the Federal Constitutional Court stated that that Germany has a protective ordernamely the basic human rights and the core of humanitarian international law to maintain to people abroad. Among other things, there must be a sufficient connection to the state authority of the Federal Republic, decided the highest German court in Karlsruhe. Second, must a serious risk of systematic violation of applicable international law present.

In the specific case, however, the prerequisites for the specific protection mandate were not met, the court said.

The U.S. Armed Forces informed the Federal Ministry of Defense in 2010 that on the premises in Ramstein A satellite relay station for control also enable drones be built abroad. According to court, the ministry saw no concerns.

In August 2012, two men died in Yemen through a US drone attack. They were killed at a meeting with three alleged members of the terrorist organization al-Qaida.

Two relatives, Yemeni nationals, have sued in Germany by the instances And finally submitted a constitutional complaint in Karlsruhe. Because of the role of the Ramstein military base, they also see the federal government in responsibility. Since 2014, the plaintiffs have legally advanced against the United States drone operations.

Dishes in attacks via Ramstein so far disagree

The Higher Administrative Court of Münster In 2019, the Federal Republic condemned to actively investigate whether the United States drone operations in Yemen, using the military base in Rhineland-Palatinate, violated international law. However, the Federal Administrative Court received this decision the following year.

The court argued that Ramstein is technically important for the US drone program. There would have to be concrete decisions on German soil so that Germany’s fundamental rights also applies to foreigners abroad.

Central questions for the constitutional court

At the Federal Constitutional Court, the complainants referred to that the right to life and physical integrity stipulated in the Basic Law. A central question was therefore whether and under what circumstances the German state is obliged to protect life from people living abroad without German citizenship.

The case also throws with a view to the drone inserts Questions about humanitarian international law and human rights On: When does a person lose their protection as a civilian? And when and where can it be attacked? According to the complainants, those killed were a police officer and a clergyman who had preached against al-Qaida in the region.

The Federal Government denied an obligation to protect in the present case. Among other things, there is no qualified connection to the domestic. To use the Air Base Ramstein, the United States is in a “ongoing and trusting dialogue”, the Ministry of Defense declared to negotiate in December.

“The federal government has repeatedly obtained the insurance company that operations from unmanned aerial vehicles from Germany in no way started, controlled or commanded And that the US forces comply with their activities. “

The plaintiffs continued to see “threat to their life”

This was not enough for the plaintiffs. “Without Ramstein, the number of drones could not take place in the number,” said lawyer Andreas Schüller from the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), which supports the complainants. The US armed forces used the base as a hub in the global drone program.

“All the data on the drones and runs back from the drones via Ramstein. In order to be able to control this in real time, the USA is required,” said Schüller.

The complainants continued to live in Yemen. Since the attack on their relatives There are continuously drone survival And always attacks in the region, said Schüller. “This is not a condition for the complainants in which they can and want to live. It is a permanent psychological threat, a threat to their lives.”

The Federal Government announced on Tuesday after the decision from Karlsruhe that the decision was welcomed, “which sets an important signal for our foreign and security policy action,” said the Ministry of Defense and the Federal Foreign Office together in Berlin.

With their decision, the judges would have confirmed that the Federal Government is entitled to a further scope for assessment in the assessmentwhen it comes to the conformity of international law of the activity of third countries.

At the same time, the ministries emphasize that the federal government will continue to work in the future not least because of the protection mandate emphasized by the Federal Constitutional Court for compliance with international law and the security of all people outside the area of application of fundamental rights. ((Reuters, dpa, TSP)