Drones have become a contentious issue in Germany after German defense minister Thomas de Meiziere scrapped a plan to purchase Euro Hawk drones – but not until over $800 million had been spent on the project.
Now there are reports that drones piloted by US from bases in Germany were involved in targeted killings in Africa:
Ten deadly drone attacks killing up to 29 people have so far been
carried out in Somalia by US forces. Most of those killed were believed
to be members of the militant Al Shabab, which aims to create an Islamic state on the Horn of Africa.Since 2011 an air mission control center in Ramstein has been guiding US Air Force attacks in Africa including Somalia.
Up to 650 staff at the Ramstein control center monitor African air
space, evaluate pictures taken by drone and satellite, and plan new
missions. Without the special satellite relay station for unmanned
flying objects in Ramstein the drone attacks in Africa "could not be carried out," according to a US Air Force internal memo.
If these reports are true, the actions represent a serious violation of German constitutional law. Herbert Prantl, writing in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, asks whether Germany is in fact a sovereign nation:
Im Grundgesetz, Artikel 102, steht auch der eherne Satz: "Die
Todesstrafe ist abgeschafft." Es ist verboten und verfassungswidrig, auf
deutschem Boden oder von deutschem Boden aus eine Exekution zu
vollziehen. Und es ist auch verboten und verfassungswidrig, Strafen ohne
Gerichtsverfahren und ohne jedes rechtliche Gehör zu vollstrecken.
Diese Verbote binden unmittelbar alle staatliche Gewalt in Deutschland.
Und aus dieser Bindung ist kein deutsches Staatsorgan entlassen, wenn es
US-Amerikaner sind, die diese Verbote verletzten. Es gibt keine
Verträge mehr, die den USA quasistaatliche Reservatrechte in
Deutschland verleihen.(Article 102 of the German Basic Law contains the brazen sentence: "The death penalty is abolished." It violates the constitution to carry out or initiate an execution on German soil. And it also violates the constitution to carry out punitive actions against individuals without due legal process. All state power in Germany must adhere to these prohibitions. And the German state is not in any exonerated if the constitutional violations were carried out by Americans. There are no longer any agreements that grant the US any reserve legal rights in Germany)
