Verwaltungsgericht Köln, judgement of 27 May 2015 - 3 K 5625

AuthorLukas Pirnay
PositionLL.M. (Universidad Austral), Diploma in Legal Studies (Oxford), Rechtsanwalt, currently working for German law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Munich office)
Pages145-165
145
Revista Internacional de Derechos Humanos / ISSN 2250-5210 / 2019 Vol. 9, No. 1
www.revistaidh.org
Verwaltungsgericht Köln, judgement of
27May2015 – 3K5625
TranslaTed By lukas Pirnay1
Translator’s introduction
Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. has been waging a global war on
terror. Most anti-terror operations have been carried out by remotely pilo-
ted unmanned aircraft, more commonly known as drones. Drones strikes
have killed alleged terrorists all over Central Asia, in particular in Pakistan,
Yemen and Somalia. In 2014, after their home region in Yemen had become
a focal point of U.S. anti-terror operations, three Yemeni Citizens led a
lawsuit with the German Administrative Court [Verwaltungsgericht] of Co-
logne against the German Federal Republic. U.S. drone strikes, the appli-
cants argued, would not be possible without Ramstein Air Base, a U.S. mi-
litary base located in southwestern Germany, whose satellite relay station
is relaying all communication between the drone operator and the drone
itself. Alleging that U.S. drone strikes are violating international law, the
applicants claimed that the German Federal Government is under a duty
to intervene in the use of Ramstein Air Base. The Administrative Court of
1 Lukas Pirnay, LL.M. (Universidad Austral), Diploma in Legal Studies (Oxford), Re-
chtsanwalt, currently working for German law rm Freshelds Bruckhaus Deringer
(Munich ofce).
146 Lukas Pirnay / Verwaltungsgericht Köln... / 145-165
www.revistaidh.org
Cologne found the action to be admissible but dismissed it on the merits.
Judgement 2
Operative Part
The action is dismissed.
The applicant shall bear the costs.
The right to appeal is granted.
State of Affairs
[1] The plaintiffs are Yemeni citizens living in Yemen. Plaintiff 1) is
currently living in Sana’a, Plaintiffs 2) and 3) are living in Khashamer, Ha-
dramout.
[2] Their lawsuit, led 15 October 2014, is challenging United States
of America (hereafter “U.S.”) drone operations in Yemen which are carried
out with the help of Ramstein Air Base.
[3] The plaintiffs state that the U.S. has been carrying out drone at-
tacks in Yemen since 2002 as part of its ‘war on terror’. Attacks have in-
tensied since 2009. Yemen has given its consent. These drone attacks are
mainly directed against the local wing of al-Qaeda ‘Al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula’ (hereafter “AQAP”). So-called ‘signature strikes’ – attacks where
targets are selected according to certain behavioral patterns without ac-
tually knowing their identity – are being employed since 2012. The drone
crews are stationed in the U.S. The data is being transferred from the U.S.
to Ramstein/Germany through optic ber cables and then relayed to the
drones using a satellite relay station. The U.S. drone pilot in the U.S. is in
constant contact with his colleagues in Ramstein. Due to the curvature of
2 This translation is based on the judgement as published by German legal database
juris (https://www.juris.de/). The paragraphs of this translation correspond to the
paragraphs assigned to the judgement by the juris original.

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