Thursday, April 30, 2015

Don't her grandchildren deserve the truth?

Don't her grandchildren
deserve the truth?
 
  
Dear Tracy,

On a sunny afternoon in 2012, a woman named Mamana Bibi was gathering okra in her family's fields. Then, before the eyes of her grandchildren, she was blown into pieces by Hellfire missiles fired by a U.S. drone.

Tell President Obama acknowledge the killing of Mamana Bibi.

Last week, President Obama took the welcome step of acknowledging and apologizing for the killing of U.S. and Italian hostages in a January U.S. drone strike. But U.S. acknowledgment of killings should not be limited to U.S. and European citizens.

The Pakistani and Yemeni families who have lost their loved ones to U.S. drone strikes - including the grandchildren of Mamana Bibi - deserve the truth, too.

"I saw her shoes. We found her mutilated body a short time afterwards," Mamana's granddaughter Nabeela told Amnesty International. "We collected as many different parts from the field and wrapped them in a cloth."

The President is creating the appearance of an ugly double standard: that the U.S. will meet the deaths of U.S. and European citizens with empathy and regret while meeting the deaths of non-Westerners with a stubborn, indifferent silence.

We can't bring Mamana Bibi back to her family. But the U.S. government must acknowledge her killing and start the process of accountability.

"We used to gather in her room at night, and she'd tell us stories," Mamana's grandson Zubair told Amnesty. "Sometimes we'd massage her feet because they were sore from working all day," her granddaughter Asma added. "I miss my grandmother."

Join me in telling President Obama: Every family deserves the truth. Break your silence on the killing of Mamana Bibi.

Sincerely,
Naureen Shah

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