NEW YORK, June 27 (RIA Novosti) – New Zealand should take action against the “extra-judicial killing” of one of its citizens during a drone attack on suspected terrorists by US forces in eastern Yemen, a lawyer told RIA Novosti.
David Small, a lecturer at Canterbury University in New Zealand, said the killing of his countryman, Muslim bin John, who used the alias Abu-Suhaib al-Australi, by a US predator drone in Hadramout in November 2013 was not lawful.
“The New Zealand government should be asking some serious questions of the US about how they concluded that the New Zealander killed in the drone strike could not be captured,” Small told RIA Novosti. “The New Zealand government should not be handing over intelligence information about New Zealand citizens to countries that practice extra-judicial killings such as drone strikes.
“New Zealanders should have access to the information about them that is passed on to other countries. New Zealand should join the growing call to establish and impose international laws around the use of military drones.”
An Australian, Christopher Havard, was also killed in the air strike on a convoy of cars, which reportedly targeted foot soldiers and other members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a regional franchise of the global extremist network.
