Fallon to face questions on drone targeted killing – but will there be answers?
By Chris Cole
UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will face questions from the Human Rights Select Committee on Wednesday (16 Dec) over the targeted killing of two British men in a UK drone strike.
21-year old Reyaad Khan from Cardiff was killed in the strike in
Syria on 21 August 2015 alongside 26-year old Ruhul Amin from Aberdeen
and an unknown third man.
As the Prime Minster acknowledged in his statement to the House of Commons,the air strike was a significant departure from previous military operations:
“Is this the first time in modern times that a British asset has been
used to conduct a strike in a country where we are not involved in a
war? The answer to that is yes. Of course, Britain has used remotely
piloted aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan, but this is a new departure.”
Announcing its inquiry, the Human Rights Committee said:
“The Government’s explanations of the rationale for its actions
on 21st August raise a number of important questions about the change of
policy, which was not the subject of any prior scrutiny or debate in
Parliament. The Prime Minister, the Defence Secretary, the Attorney
General, the Foreign Secretary and the UK’s Permanent Representative to
the UN have all provided explanations which differ in some important
respects and raise significant questions about what the Government’s
policy now is and its legal basis.”
