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:( ::::::: Translator At Drone Strike Hearing Moved Nearly To Tears By Survivor Testimony - RawStory
Translator at drone strike hearing moved nearly to tears by survivor testimonyBy David Ferguson
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 13:50 EDT
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A translator at a Capitol Hill hearing on the U.S. drone program was moved nearly to tears Tuesday during the testimony of Pakistani primary school teacher Rafiq Rehman. Rehman and his family — whose story was revealed to the world by Amnesty International — traveled to Washington from Pakistan’s northern Waziristan region. The teacher’s mother was killed in a U.S. drone strike and his two children were injured.
The family’s congressional appearance was held in the Rayburn Building on Capitol Hill and was sponsored in by the Brave New Foundation, a global nonprofit social justice foundation. Brave New Films has just released the documentary film “Unmanned: America’s Drone War,” which details the Rehman family’s losses.
“Congressman Grayson,” said Rehman via a translator, “As a teacher, my job is to educate. But how do I teach something like this?”
“How do I explain what I myself do not understand?” he continued. “How can I in good faith reassure the children that the drone will not come back and kill them, too? If I do not understand why it killed my mother and injured my children…”
It was there that the translator broke off and took a hasty swallow of water as she choked up. Rehman spoke again.
“My mother is not the first innocent victim of U.S. drones,” relayed the translator, “Numerous families in our community and in the surrounding area have lost loved ones — including women and children — in these strikes over the years.”
In October of 2012...
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More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/30/translator-at-drone-strike-hearing-moved-nearly-to-tears-by-survivor-testimony/
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