By Natasha Lennard for Salon.com.
Rafiq ur Rehman, a primary school teacher in Pakistan’s beleaguered Waziristan province has felt personally and profoundly the impact of U.S. drone strikes in his region. In one strike last October, not only were his three young children, aged five to 13, injured, but his 67-year-old mother was killed.
“A year later, Rehman still has no idea why his mother, Momina Bibi, a 67-year-old midwife, was blown to pieces while tending her garden,” wrote Ryan Devereaux in the Guardian this weekend, having interviewed Rehman and his family during their first trip to the United States. It is a landmark visit: The Rehmans will be the first drone victims to testify in front of Congress, having been invited by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fl.) to speak on Tuesday.
The family’s journey to Capitol Hill has not been a smooth one. As noted here in September, their lawyer (also a fellow with U.K. human rights group, Reprieve) Shahzad Akbar had his visa to enter the U.S. held up for what he believes were political reasons.
But now Rehman’s family — including his children — without their lawyer are ready to share their story with Congress, having arrived in D.C. over the weekend to prepare for Tuesday. Their story is one among a host of civilian tragedies that call into question the Obama administration’s description of drone programs as highly targeted kills. As Rehman himself noted in the Guardian:
Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email [email protected].
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