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A court in Pakistan on Thursday ordered registration of murder cases against two former chiefs of U.S. CIA stationed in Islamabad for alleged role in the U.S. drone strikes in the country's tribal region, lawyers and anti-drone campaigners said.
Kareem Khan, a resident of North Waziristan tribal agency, lost his teenage son Zahinullah and brother Asif Iqbal who was a primary school teacher in Mir Ali, North Waziristan Agency in a drone strike on December 31, 2009.
Kareem Khan started his legal struggle to get justice in 2010 and since then the Islamabad police had been avoiding proceeding against the CIA officials involved in this incident and hundreds of other killings in U.S. conducted drone strikes in Pakistan.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of Islamabad High Court ordered registration of a criminal case for offences of murder, conspiracy, waging war against Pakistan and offences under the provisions of Terrorism Act 1997 against the former CIA station chiefs in Islamabad, Jonathan Banks and John A Rizzo, the defence lawyer, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, said.
"There is no doubt under Pakistani and international law that the U.S. officials are committing murder through drone strikes in Pakistan and today's decision simply vindicates this very point," Akbar said after the court issued the order.
He said after this order all those who have been killed in drone strikes have a right to proceed in similar criminal actions against the CIA officials and others involved.
"This remarkable order also highlights the strength of independence of judiciary in Pakistan which is truly protecting the rights of citizens of Pakistan under the Constitution," the lawyer said.
Kareem Khan also expressed satisfaction at the court's order and said justice is done after a long time, hoping the U.S. will show respect to Pakistani courts.
"If the U.S. officials think drone strikes are legal they should defend the attacks in Pakistani courts," Khan told Xinhua by phone from the northwestern city of Peshawar.
"Today's order is a victory for all those innocent civilians that have been killed in U.S. led drone strikes in Pakistan and as a citizen of Pakistan I feel somewhat reaffirmed that perhaps people like me from Waziristan might also be able to get justice for the wrongs being done to them," Khan later said in a statement.
He said he hoped that the police now do their job and proceed against the "culprits" to address the concerns of those who have lost innocent people in U.S. secret drone mission.
The U.S. covert drone campaign is highly controversial and tribesmen in Pakistan's Waziristan region said the attacks also kill innocent people. The United States has insisted it only targets the militants who cross the border into Afghanistan for attacks on foreign and Afghan forces.
There has been a lull in the Pakistan drone strikes over the past few months since the government has started peace dialogue with the Taliban.
Pakistan had strongly condemned a drone attack which had killed the Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah, in November.
Taliban had refused talks after the attack. However, they agreed to resume talks in February. The talks currently face a deadlock due to the Taliban conditions, airstrikes by the security forces and Taliban attacks.
