A group of experts from the UN concluded that the strikes carried out by the U.S. against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean amount to "extrajudicial executions."
The experts were appointed by the Human Rights Council. They said that even if if Trump's allegations about the boats carrying drugs were justified, the use of lethal force violates international law.
"These moves are an extremely dangerous escalation with grave implications for peace and security in the Caribbean region," the experts said in a statements. They noted that they also violate Venezuela's sovereignty and the U.S.'s "fundamental international obligations" not to intervene in domestic affairs of another country.
A State Department official rejected the premise, telling Reuters that "these so-called 'experts' fail to acknowledge the fact that they're advocating for an illegitimate leader who is a fugitive of American justice who undermines our regional security and poisons Americans."
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, on his end, has claimed that the Trump administration's pressure campaign is "consistent with the law of armed conflict and Article 51 of the UN Charter."
Waltz said in a social media publication that Venezuela's authoritarian government "is whining at the UN because President Trump is hitting back HARD against the cartels and traffickers driving the deadly flow of drugs into our country."
"Maduro—a fugitive and cartel boss—has fueled this crisis for years. Not anymore. The U.S. is exercising its inherent right of self-defense, as directed by the President, to defend the American people consistent with the law of armed conflict and Article 51 of the UN Charter," Waltz added.
The article Waltz was making reference to claims that "nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security."
"Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security," the article adds.
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