RWUK ADDRESSES THE ECHR’S GRAND CHAMBER ON THE CASE OF HANAN V GERMANY

On 26th February 2020, Rights Watch UK was proud to provide an oral intervention before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Hanan v Germany. Hanan v. Germany concerns the investigation into an airstrike in Afghanistan that killed the applicant’s two sons. The 2 Afghan brothers (12 and 8) were killed in an air-strike ordered by the German Govt on 04 Sept 2009. It is estimated that between 14 and 142 Afghans died in the strike, of which 14 to 113 were civilians. Rights Watch UK stood alongside the ECCHR – European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in their long fight for justice and accountability on behalf of the boy’s father.

Our submissions addressed whether Germany’s human rights obligations applied extraterritorially in the situation of an airstrike so as to give rise to an obligation to conduct a human rights compliant investigation into the deaths. The British and French governments also intervened in this case. RWUK was represented by Sam Wordsworth from Essex Court Chambers, as well as Anthony Jones and Can Yegninsu from 4 New Square Chambers.

See below for a video of him addressing the grand chamber. A transcript of the statement can also be found underneath. The full video of the session can be found here.