The Right to Life
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) — which the United States ratified — is explicit: no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of their life. Executing men at sea without charges, without trial, without even an attempt at arrest is the very definition of “arbitrary deprivation of life.” This was an extrajudicial execution, nothing less.
The UN Charter
The United Nations Charter, Article 2, prohibits the use of force except in self-defense or with Security Council authorization. Were those eleven men attacking the United States? No. Were they firing weapons at U.S. ships? No. Was there any imminent threat? None has been shown.
A speedboat in international waters does not justify a missile strike. Full stop. Not only that, but Marco Rubio said they weren’t even bound for the United States, but Trinidad. That fact makes the slaughter of the people on this boat that much worse. The United States had no right to do such a thing.
The Geneva Conventions
Even if this were treated as an “armed conflict,” which it wasn’t, the Geneva Conventions forbid summary executions. Combatants who are not actively engaged, or civilians, cannot simply be bombed without process. Trump didn’t just break the law of peace; he shredded the laws of war.
The Law of the Sea
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ships in international waters are under the jurisdiction of their flag state. The U.S. has no unilateral right to bomb foreign vessels unless directly threatened. America did not have jurisdiction over that boat.
The Inter-American System
In the Americas, there’s another layer: the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, which also prohibits summary executions. For the U.S. to execute people in the Caribbean without due process is a direct violation of the very human rights framework it claims to champion. Shaun King
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