The special rapporteur of the United Nations (UN) on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, denounced the illegal use of lethal force by the United States in Venezuelan territory, after the military incursion on January 3.
The independent expert pointed out that the operation, which led to the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Floresconstitutes a serious transgression of international law and the basic principles of the UN Charter.
According to his statement, the military action not only violates the sovereignty of Venezuela, but also represents a dangerous precedent for regional and global stability.
Violation of international law
The rapporteur stressed that no State can resort to the use of force outside its borders without authorization from the UN Security Council or without an internationally recognized legal framework.
In this sense, he described the incursion as a unilateral act that lacks legitimacy and that must be repudiated by the international community. “The use of lethal force in military operations without an international mandate constitutes a flagrant violation of the norms that govern peaceful coexistence between States,” he stated.
Impact on the region and call to the international community
The statement warns that the aggression against Venezuela threatens regional and world peace, by opening the door to new military interventions under political or economic arguments.
The rapporteur urged UN member states to demand respect for Venezuelan sovereignty and to reject any form of domination or expansionism. Likewise, he recalled that the protection of human rights and the defense of peace must prevail over geopolitical interests.
For his part, Foreign Minister Yván Gil asserted that the United Nations has highlighted the urgent need for States to implement a legal framework that respects the basic principles of the UN Charter.
“This is particularly relevant given the use of unilateral and illegal force by the United States against Venezuela, which has resulted in more than one hundred deaths and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as well as the illegal bombings in the Caribbean and the Pacific that have left a tragic toll of more than one hundred dead, classified as extrajudicial executions by the UN,” he said.
Morris Tidball-Binz, in his report to the General Assembly, urged the United States to respect international law and stop the unjustified use of force both inside and outside its borders, the chancellor said.
“In relation to the murder of a US citizen on January 7 by immigration officers, a case that illustrates the systematic violation of human rights suffered by thousands of migrants in that country,” he added.
