{"id":43710,"date":"2025-09-06T12:38:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T19:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=43710"},"modified":"2025-09-06T12:38:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T19:38:49","slug":"experts-decry-us-summary-execution-of-alleged-drug-runners-off-venezuelan-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/06\/experts-decry-us-summary-execution-of-alleged-drug-runners-off-venezuelan-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"EXPERTS DECRY US \u2018SUMMARY EXECUTION\u2019 OF ALLEGED DRUG RUNNERS OFF VENEZUELAN COAST"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

POSTED INPOLITICS AND MOVEMENTS: INTERNATIONAL<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDrug trafficking is a crime, not an act of war,\u201d noted one critic. \u201cTraffickers must be arrested, not summarily executed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/strong> SEPTEMBER 4, 2025 (therealnews.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Screenshot from a video posted on social media by President Donald Trump, showing a boat that was allegedly transporting cocaine off the coast of Venezuela when it was destroyed by US forces on September 2, 2025. Photo: President Donald Trump\/Truth Social<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get fearless, uncompromising truth in your inbox. Subscribe to The Real News.<\/strong>SIGN UP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Common<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Sep. 03, 2025<\/a>. It is shared here under a  Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal and human rights experts said that Tuesday\u2019s deadly US attack<\/a> on a boat the Trump administration claimed was transporting cocaine off the coast of Venezuela violated international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDrug trafficking is a crime, not an act of war,\u201d former Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth said<\/a> on social media following the strike, which US President Donald Trump<\/a> said<\/a> killed 11 people. \u201cTraffickers must be arrested, not summarily executed, which US forces just illegally did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump admits he ordered a summary execution\u2014the crime of murder,\u201d Roth added. \u201cDrug traffickers are not combatants who can be shot on sight. They are criminal suspects who must be arrested and prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/embed\/did:plc:wehpwli2hjsyej7w4jr3z4gz\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lxv7ymsya22h?id=038518001880463615&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Ftherealnews.com%252Fexecution-of-alleged-drug-runners-venezuelan-coast<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Becker, an associate professor of international law at Trinity College, Dublin in Ireland, told<\/a> the BBC<\/em> Wednesday that the Trump administration\u2019s designation of the Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua and other drug trafficking groups as terrorist organizations \u201cstretches the meaning of the term beyond its breaking point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact that US officials describe the individuals killed by the US strike as narcoterrorists does not transform them into lawful military targets,\u201d Becker said. \u201cThe US is not engaged in an armed conflict with Venezuela or the Tren de Aragua criminal organization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot only does the strike appear to have violated the prohibition on the use of force, it also runs afoul of the right to life under international human rights law,\u201d Becker added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the United States is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea<\/a>, US military legal advisers have asserted<\/a> that the country should \u201cact in a manner consistent with its provisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke Moffett, a professor of international law at Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland, told the BBC<\/em> that while \u201cforce can be used to stop a boat,\u201d this should generally be accomplished using \u201cnonlethal measures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such action, said Moffett, must be \u201creasonable and necessary in self-defense where there is immediate threat of serious injury or loss of life to enforcement officials,\u201d and the US attack was likely \u201cunlawful under the law of the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt reflects the worst of US militarism\u2014secretive, unilateral, and contemptuous of due process, human rights, and the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The peace group CodePink said<\/a> Wednesday that \u201ceven if Washington\u2019s claims are accurate, drug trafficking does not justify a death sentence delivered by missile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInternational law is clear: The use of force is only lawful in self-defense or with explicit UN Security Council authorization,\u201d the group continued. \u201cThis strike had neither. It reflects the worst of US militarism\u2014secretive, unilateral, and contemptuous of due process, human rights, and the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnder US law, it\u2019s equally indefensible,\u201d CodePink argued. \u201cThe Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to authorize war. Unilateral action may only be used in emergencies or self-defense, and this strike meets neither.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CodePink continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

With the US Southern Command assets already deployed in the region, why blow up a vessel instead of capturing and interrogating the crew? If the goal were really to uncover evidence of [Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s] Maduro\u2019s alleged involvement, this reckless approach raises only two possibilities: Either the narrative is fabricated and Washington used it as a pretext for a deadly show of force or it\u2019s real, and the US chose extrajudicial killing over law, evidence, and humanity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

CodePink called on Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) \u201cto lead the fight in Congress to stop this escalation,\u201d urging him to \u201cintroduce legislation to block unauthorized military force, hold hearings to expose the dangers of border militarization, insist on transparency of all relevant directives, and rally Congress to cut off funding for these reckless operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday\u2019s attack came amid Trump\u2019s deployment of an armada of naval warships off the coast of Venezuela, whose socialist government has long endured US threats of regime change\u2014and sometimes more.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infused with the notion that it has the right to meddle anywhere in the hemisphere under the Monroe Doctrine<\/a>, the US has attacked, invaded, occupied, and otherwise intervened in Latin American and Caribbean nations well over 100 times since the dubious declaration was issued by President James Monroe in 1823.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the late 19th century, oil-rich Venezuela has seen US interventions<\/a> including involvement in border disputes, help with military coups, support for dictators, and attempts to subvert the Bolivarian Revolution\u2014including by officially recognizing opposition figures claiming to be the legitimate presidents of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics of US imperialism highlighted Washington\u2019s hypocritical policies and practices toward Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/KenRoth\/status\/1963271032782848400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1963271032782848400%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftherealnews.com%2Fexecution-of-alleged-drug-runners-venezuelan-coast<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVenezuela produces no cocaine, but US warships patrol its coastline under the banner of a \u2018drug war,’\u201d New Hampshire Peace Action organizing director Michael \u201cLefty\u201d Morrill wrote<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, neighboring Colombia and nearby Peru\u2014the world\u2019s two leading cocaine producers\u2014get no such treatment. Nor does Ecuador, which has emerged as one of the world\u2019s leading trafficking hubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morrill also briefly explored bits of the long US history of supporting narcotraffickers when strategically expedient, noting that former Panamanian President Manuel Noriega \u201cwas first a CIA asset, then branded a narco-dictator and dragged to a US prison.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Taliban was once a strategic partner in Afghanistan\u2019s opium trade, before being cast as the world\u2019s largest trafficker,\u201d he added. \u201c\u2018Drugs\u2019 are not simply powders; they are pretexts, shaped to fit the contours of empire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.More by Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

POSTED INPOLITICS AND MOVEMENTS: INTERNATIONAL \u201cDrug trafficking is a crime, not an act of war,\u201d noted one critic. \u201cTraffickers must be arrested, not summarily executed.\u201d BY\u00a0BRETT WILKINS SEPTEMBER 4, 2025 (therealnews.com) Screenshot from a video posted on social media by President Donald Trump, showing a boat that was allegedly transporting… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43710"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43711,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43710\/revisions\/43711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}