British judges rule against Pakistani drone victim's son to avoid 'judging US'

Court dismisses Noor Khan's case saying it involves "serious criticisms of the acts of a foreign state".

Noor Khan, whose father died in a US drone attack in 2011, failed in his attempt to hold British intelligence officials of the GCHQ responsible for the killing because the court ruled that even considering Khan's claims would involve "sitting in judgment" on the US, The Guardian reported.

28 year-old Noor Khan's father was a tribal elder who died during a strike on a local council meeting in North Waziristan.

Khan claimed at a British court of appeal that the staff of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) — an intelligence and security organisation — were to blame for the death because they had passed on "locational intelligence" to the CIA before the attack.

"However the claims are presented, they involve serious criticisms of the acts of a foreign state," the three court of appeal judges concluded. "It is only in certain established circumstances that our courts will exceptionally sit in judgment of such acts. There are no such exceptional circumstances here."

The court would have to find the CIA implicitly guilty of a war crime before it could consider whether GCHQ had been involved, the court said.

Responding to the ruling, Kat Craig, a human rights worker supporting Khan, said: "It is shameful that the risk of embarrassing the US has trumped British justice in this case.

"It now appears that the UK government can get away with murder, provided it is committed alongside an ally who may be sensitive to public criticism. It is a sad day when the rights of civilian victims of drone strikes take second place to the PR concerns of the US government."

Khan said: "I used to think that Britain stood for justice, but now it seems as though the government has put itself above the law.

"However, I am still determined to get answers from the UK government about the part they have played in the death of my father. The CIA's drone programme has not only killed hundreds of civilians, but is turning people in Pakistan against the US and its allies.

"This is why I was so upset to hear that Britain is helping the CIA to carry out these killings, and even more upset when the government refused to respond to my questions."