Prosecutors Whitewash Germany’s Role in Civilian Drone Strike Death

German officials are trying to whitewash the country’s role in a U.S. drone strike that killed an innocent Somalian herdsman, according to the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Lawyers backed by the organization filed an appeal today against German prosecutors who have refused to investigate the strike, launched in 2012 with crucial support from two U.S. military bases in Germany. In June this year, the prosecutors said they would not pursue a criminal complaint lodged on behalf of the herdsman’s son.

“With only a cursory review, prosecutors blindly accepted that their government didn’t know about the U.S. strikes and bear no responsibility for attacks operated from German soil,”

said Amrit Singh, a senior lawyer with the Open Society Justice Initiative. “That’s a troubling precedent to set at a time when the Trump administration has ratcheted up the number of drone attacks. Instead of enabling lawless drone killings, European states should be preventing them.” More information about the case can be found here.