Pak court declares US drone strikes illegal, says they can be shot down [View all]

[dixiegrrrrl]

Islamabad: A Pakistani court today declared that US drone strikes on al-Qaeda and Taliban elements in the country’s lawless tribal belt were tantamount to a “war crime” and the armed forces would have the right to shoot down the CIA-operated spy planes.

The Peshawar High Court issued the verdict against the US drones in response to four petitions that contended the missile attacks killed civilians and caused collateral damage.

The two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan ruled the drone strikes were a “blatant violation of basic human rights” and the UN Charter and “thus, it is held to be a war crime cognisable by the International Court of Justice or Special Tribunal for War Crimes”.

Drone strikes “carried out against a handful of alleged militants, who are not engaged in combat with the US authorities or forces, amount to breach of international law” and a “blatant violation of the sovereignty” of Pakistan, the judges said in their order.

http://www.firstpost.com/world/pak-court-declares-us-drone-strikes-illegal-says-they-can-be-shot-down-769545.html