Apr 19th, 2016
Malik Jalal
By Louie Herbert
This blog post was written by Malik Jalal. He is supported by Reprieve, a UK human rights charity who are running a campaign with Malik on the 38 Degrees ‘Campaigns by You’ website.
My name is Malik Jalal and last week I went to the Houses of Parliament to ask the British government not to kill me. I’m a peace campaigner who lives in Pakistan, but because I negotiate with groups the US has deemed its enemies to try and end the war and campaign against drone strikes, I’m now being targeted by air-strikes myself.
The drone strikes come from both the United States and the United Kingdom and it’s hard to get concrete information as to whether my life is still at risk. But I know that the UK is America’s closest ally. I know that the two governments work together on their kill lists. So I am asking Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond to ensure that it’s safe for me to return to my family in Pakistan. That is all.
I am not a threat to the UK or the United States. I was invited into the Houses of Parliament by Lord Ken MacDonald to give my story and ask the government not to murder me. Many MP’s have signed a letter on my behalf. [4] If thousands of British people sign my petition too, Philip Hammond will have to take notice and could save my life.
You can find the petition here: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/DontKillMe
In a way I’ve been lucky. The four drone strikes that have targeted me have missed. But this has meant that over a dozen other other innocent people have instead been killed in attempts on my life. My wife and children now worry for my life and their own every day.
The UK government have the power to stop these strikes. I came here to ask them to do exactly that. Please join me by signing my petition to ask the government to do the right thing by taking me off the kill list.
You can find the petition here: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/DontKillMe
Thank you for standing with me,
Malik Jalal
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From the 38 Degrees team
Here at the 38 Degrees office we realise that this extraordinary campaign might raise a few questions. So we’ve made a blog post that will hopefully answer any of yours. You can find it here: https://home.38degrees.org.uk/2016/04/18/malik-jalal-faqs/
