The Pakistani expatriate community in the Kingdom reiterated their demand on Wednesday that the United States be held accountable for the drone killings in Pakistan, as they amount to war crimes. The call was reminiscent of the concerns against the US drone airstrikes led by human rights organizations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Echoing the sentiment expressed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in a major report released on Tuesday, Pakistani expatriates maintained that the US carried out unlawful killings in Pakistan.

Salman Maneer, a chemical engineer working with Metito in Riyadh agreed with the human rights groups’ report saying that the US drone killings raise serious questions about international law violations and amount to war crimes or extrajudicial executions owing to the number of innocents killed in the drone strikes.

He said, “Contrary to US claims that the victims were ‘terrorists’, Amnesty International’s research indicates that those killed were not involved in fighting and posed no threat to life.”

Rameez Khan, an IT professional working with Mobily in the Kingdom said the report released by Amnesty International entitled, “Will I be next?’ US drone strikes in Pakistan”, is one of the most comprehensive studies to date, documenting recent killings in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas, and exposes the US drone program from a human rights perspective.

He added, “There is absolutely no transparency in the US drone program and the human rights report, which was made public is testimony to this. It only confirms that the US should be held accountable for this injustice.”

In a continuation of the outburst against the chaos caused by drone killings, Naeem Jameel, a manager at an advertising company observed that the secrecy surrounding the drone program gives the US administration a license to kill, which is a gross violation of human rights.

This secrecy has enabled the US to act with impunity and prevent victims from receiving justice or compensation, he added. Sharing the concerns of the rights groups he asked, “What hope for redress can there be for victims of drone attacks and their families when the US won’t even acknowledge its responsibility for the drone strikes?”

Furthermore, International law prohibits arbitrary killing and limits the lawful use of intentional lethal force, but the clear case of drone misuse in Pakistan has caused havoc and created panic among the local populace, who live in constant terror of inescapable violence, he asserted.

He added that the drone attacks have added to the locals’ sufferings, causing them to live in fear of death from US drones hovering in the skies day and night.

Although Nawaz Sharif maintains that he opposes the US drone program, the Pakistani community is demanding that the government lodge a protest and call upon the US to fully investigate the unlawful deaths reported by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Community members added that the US must ensure that victims of unlawful drone strikes, including family members of victims of unlawful killings, have effective access to justice and compensation.