FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         

November 18, 2013                                         

Contact: Tony Newman, 646.335.5384

Alli McCracken, 860.575.5692, alli@codepink.org

Medea Benjamin, 415.235.6517, medea@codepink.org

Congressional Briefing Featuring Drone Strike Victim From Yemen

Briefing Comes Following DC Global Drone Summit

What: Briefing on Drones by Visiting Yemen Delegation

When: 4pm, Tuesday, November 19

Where: Rayburn House Building, Room 2456

On November 19, 2013, CODEPINK will hold a Congressional briefing hosted by Representatives Barbara Lee, Alan Grayson, and Jan Schakowsky so Congress will have an opportunity to listen to those people who have been directly impacted by US drone strikes in Yemen. They will hear the story of Salem bin Ali Jabar, a prominent anti-Al Qaeda cleric who was killed by a US drone strike, along with his 26-year-old nephew. The briefing comes on the heels of the Global Drone Summit last weekend that brought together 400 people from across the US and around the world to discuss strategies to stop the proliferation of drones used for killing and spying. The conference was organized by the peace group CODEPINK, along with the Institute for Policy Studies, The Nation Magazine, Center for Constitutional Rights, and National Lawyers Guild (Georgetown Chapter).

The delegation has compelling stories to tell about how drones have affected their families, their communities and their efforts for a democratic transition in Yemen.

They will be joined by Robert Naiman, Policy Director of Just Foreign Policy, who will explain why the drone strike transparency provisions of the Senate intelligence authorization, if they became law, would be a significant step forward in Congressional oversight of the policy.

Speaker biographies:

Faisal bin Ali Jaber is a Yemeni civil engineer working on water issues in Yemen. His brother-in-law, an outspoken anti-Al Qaeda cleric, and his nephew, a policeman, were killed by a US drone strike on August 29, 2012.

Entesar al Qadhi is a female Yemeni politician from Mareb, a prominent location for US drone strikes. She is a youth representative at the National Dialogue Conference in Yemen, and was a leading voice in the revolution that overthrew dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Baraa Shiban is the Yemen project co-ordinator for the legal group Reprieve. He has researched civilian victims of US air strikes and testified at a US congressional hearing on the impact of drones. He also serves as a youth representative in Yemen's National Dialogue.

##