The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, condemned the January 3 US military attack in Venezuela. The expert warned that the incursion into Venezuelan territory and the lethal attacks on boats in international waters, which constitute an “excessive and unlawful use of lethal force,” could give rise to international criminal liability.
The US military attack on Venezuela “may constitute an international crime of aggression attributable to individual political and military leaders involved,” he added, according to a United Nations press release on Thursday, January 15.
Tidball-Binz underscored that the unprovoked use of armed force on the sovereign territory of another State is a breach of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. “Deaths resulting from such an act of aggression are arbitrary by definition,” the rapporteur stated.
According to the expert, the incursion by US forces into Venezuelan territory on January 3—which resulted in 108 deaths and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores—has no legal basis under international law.
The rapporteur also repudiated the normalization of violent US tactics, both in Venezuela and in maritime operations in the so-called “war on narco-terrorism.” He expressed grave concern about the US forces not only destroying vessels and killing the crews while intercepting them, but also killing survivors at sea.
He underscored that public statements by US officials promoting a “shoot-to-kill” posture violate international legal limits. ““International law does not allow States to kill on the basis of labels, perceptions of how someone appears, or allegations of wrongdoing,” he stated. “Whether at sea, abroad, or at home, the use of lethal force must be strictly limited by the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality and precaution, and may be used only as a last resort to protect life.”
Tidball-Binz also referred to institutional violence within the United States, highlighting the situation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and demanded a thorough investigation into the fatal shooting of a woman on January 7 by US federal immigration agents.
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Demand for accountability
The rapporteur called on the US government to urgently review relevant laws, policies, rules of engagement, operational directives and oversight mechanisms governing the use of lethal force domestically and extraterritorially. He also demanded transparent and independent investigations under the Minnesota Protocol to ensure that victims’ families have access to justice and redress.
The expert emphasized that the right to life is “non-negotiable” and that no State may kill based on perceptions of appearance or political labels, reaffirming that the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of life is absolute and universal.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
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