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July 19, 2012

Admin Officials Sued for Drone Killings of U.S. Citizens in Yemen 
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The families of three U.S. citizens killed in a U.S. drone strike in
Yemen last year have filed suit against the U.S. government. The lawsuit
accuses Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, CIA Director David Petraeus, and
two military commanders of unlawfully killing Muslim cleric Anwar
al-Awlaki and Samir Khan in a drone strike, and then al-Awlaki's teenage
son, Abdulrahman, two weeks later. Filing the lawsuit on behalf of the
victims' families, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for
Constitutional Rights say the assassinations were carried out with
"vague legal standards, a closed executive process and evidence never
presented to the courts." In a video released in conjunction with the
lawsuit's filing, Abdulrahman's grandfather, Nasser Al-Aulaqi, called
for justice in his murder.

Nasser Al-Aulaqi: "A small boy being killed by an American drone away
from his home, away from his family. He didn't even get the best burial
we could have hoped for because his body was cut into pieces. For me and
my wife and my whole family, we were really in a very sad situation, and
we are still suffering until today. I hope that any American, will look
to what happened to my as [an] injustice."

 

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