Activists campaign in European cities against drone strikes

LONDON: Kareem Khan, who lost his son and brother to a 2009 CIA drone strike, has said that he wants the Western world to realise that drone campaign is creating more terrorism, instability and chaos in the region and the campaign itself is a failure.
Kareem Khan, who is on a tour of the European countries along with Noor Behram, a journalist from North Waziristan; lawyer Shahzad Akbar, a fellow of human rights charity Reprieve; and Jennifer Gibson, a staff attorney at Reprieve, said this while meeting Conservative European Parliament member Sajjad Karim here to discuss the impact of the US’ secret bombing campaign. The visit is organised by human rights charity Reprieve.
Kareem Khan was abducted from his Rawalpindi home by men in police uniforms on February 5. He told The News that has been subjected to extreme torture in captivity. “I was put on a floor blindfolded. There were men who took turns to stand on my back. I was slapped and kicked by several men.
“I have lost my brother and son to drones. I am only raising voice for them and for other victims. I am doing it openly and have nothing to hide. If the govt agencies have any problem with me then they should simply arrest me and asks questions, not kidnap me. I say the same to Americans - if you had any suspicions about my son and brother then you should have used the legal way, not killing through drones.”
He added, “Drone strikes in Pakistan are killing hundreds of civilians, and must be stopped. It’s important that European countries’ involvement in the strikes is investigated, and European governments do all they can to bring a halt to the programme.” The group has already visited Germany and met with German MPs and government officials to discuss the impact of the CIA drone programme on civilians in Pakistan.
The group will address an important meeting called by the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Wednesday in the British parliament. They will visit Brussels after that to take part in a European Parliament meeting on the same topic.
Shahzad Akbar told The News that they hoped their meetings with parliamentarians in Europe will help raise awareness about the real impact of US drone strikes. “We understand that the people of these countries are against foreign wars but we need to tell them what damage drones are causing to people in far off regions and the impact of these strikes on civilians in Pakistan.”
The visiting campaigners have also met with the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Committees, as well as members of Germany’s Green Party. Tomorrow he is set to meet officials from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Jennifer Gibson said: “Given the involvement of European countries in the CIA’s illegal and counter-productive campaign of drone strikes, it is important that politicians and public alike are aware of how this affects innocent civilians on the ground. Khan lost his son and his brother to these strikes, and when he started speaking out, ended up being kidnapped. People in Germany, the UK and the US deserve to know about the abuses that are being carried out in their name - it is high time the drone campaign was brought out of the shadows.”
Karim MEP commented: “Listening to Kareem Khan’s tragic story highlights the real impact of drone warfare and shows a very different story to what the Americans would have us believe. The legal quagmire that surrounds the current use of drones casts a dark shadow on international law and shows little sign of becoming clearer. In regards to the situation in Pakistan, the US drone strikes are questionable at best as there is no consent from the government of Pakistan.”