(Geneva) A UN special rapporteur on Thursday urged the United States to urgently review the laws, policies and rules governing the use of lethal force at home and abroad, according to a statement posted on a UN website.
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A “shoot to kill” posture on the part of a State risks “lowering the threshold for the use of lethal force”, worried the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Morris Tidball-Binz.
The expert mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, but who does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, expressed “deep concern over the dozens of deaths caused by the large-scale military action of the United States in Venezuela in early January”, according to the press release.
Mr. Tidball-Binz stressed that the unprovoked use of armed force on the sovereign territory of another state can “constitute the international crime of aggression attributable to the political and military leaders involved.”
On January 3, US President Donald Trump ordered an attack on oil-rich Venezuela that left more than 100 people dead and in which US commandos kidnapped left-wing President Nicolás Maduro. The UN warned that the operation had “undermined a fundamental principle of international law”.
“States must never normalize a ‘shoot to kill’ approach that erodes the strict and absolute limits that international law imposes on the use of lethal force,” Mr. Tidball-Binz insisted.
Mr. Tidball-Binz also expressed his deep concern after the death of a 37-year-old American mother killed last week by an immigration police officer and which sparked a wave of indignation in the country.
He demanded an “independent, impartial and transparent investigation”. Already on Tuesday the UN called for a “rapid and independent” investigation.
“When potentially unlawful deaths occur (…), victims’ families must have access to truth, justice and reparation,” he said.
“International law does not allow states to kill based on labels, perceptions of someone’s appearance or allegations of wrongdoing,” he also stressed.
“Whether at sea, abroad or on national territory, the use of lethal force (…) can only be used as a last resort to protect life,” he added.
Since September, Washington has carried out strikes against suspected drug traffickers’ boats, which have so far left more than 100 people dead, in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
