TAKE ACTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

URGE CONGRESS: INTERVENE TO STOP U.S. MURDER ON HIGH SEAS

The U.S. military’s repeated air strikes targeting unidentified boats at sea have killed at least 34 people. These strikes are illegal under international human rights law, unconscionable, and dangerous. The use of lethal force in this context has no justification.

If the U.S. government can unilaterally decide to bomb anyone it labels a “terrorist” — anywhere, anytime — it sets a chilling global precedent. No government should have the power to kill without accountability.

Sign on to send your letter in one-click: Urge Congress to act immediately to halt these illegal airstrikes and hold those responsible to account.

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I am writing on behalf of Amnesty International to express my great concern about the air strikes conducted by the U.S. military against unidentified boats in the Caribbean Sea. The strikes constitute a clear violation of the right to life under international human rights law and set a dangerous precedent. The use of lethal force in this context has absolutely no justification.

The intentional use of lethal force is governed by law enforcement standards under international human rights law. It can only be used when strictly necessary to protect life from an imminent threat, and when no less harmful means, such as capture, are available. Moreover, any use of lethal force must be proportionate to the threat faced in the prevailing circumstances, particularly with a view to minimizing risks posed to human life and personal integrity.

The lethal strikes against what the U.S. government  alleges to be  drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean amount to extrajudicial killings. President Trump, Secretary Rubio and other Trump administration’s public comments about these strikes, as well as the continuation of these strikes over the course of several weeks, suggest this is a new policy  of extrajudicial killings that violates both the rights to life and to due process.

The people in these vessels have faced no investigation or trial for allegedly committing a crime,  and their activities or potential membership in a cartel are immaterial when it comes to protection of the rights to life and to due process.  Furthermore, outside the context of an armed conflict, the use of lethal force by the U.S. military for policing actions is broadly unlawful . As there is currently not an armed conflict between the United States and any states or armed groups in the Caribbean, the U.S. government cannot invoke the laws of war to justify the strikes. Law enforcement operations remain exclusively governed by international human rights law and standards .

Much of international human rights law as incorporated in statutes involving U.S. foreign policy centers on “gross violations of human rights” (GVHRs), a category of abuses defined in Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act in 1974. The State Department has long interpreted GVHRs to include extrajudicial killings. This same consideration is codified in: the Global Magnitsky Act, which authorizes sanctions on individuals who have committed a gross violation of human rights or engaged in corruption; U.S. visa sanctions authorized in Section 7031(c) of annual appropriations acts, which invoke the GVHR definition and, by extension, extrajudicial killings; the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), which allows for the filing of civil lawsuits in the United States against individuals who committed extrajudicial killing; and the Immigration and Nationality Act, which classifies non-citizens who have committed or been otherwise involved in extrajudicial killing as ineligible for admission to the United States.

If the U.S. Congress has stated this type of action should not be tolerated elsewhere, it should condemn this behavior by the U.S. government and call for accountability. Permitting extrajudicial killings violates international law and undermines principles long stated as cherished by this country. Practically, Congress should be addressing underfunding in direct services and healthcare if they want to play a meaningful role in helping eradicate the U.S.’s opioid crisis domestically, not supporting extrajudicial killings.

We call on you to begin a prompt, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into these strikes. The U.S. government must ensure that intentional lethal force is only used in response to imminent threat to life,  and when no less harmful means, such as capture or non-lethal incapacitation, is possible, and the use of force must be s proportionate in the prevailing circumstances. Further, Congress should thoroughly reject the administration’s increasing use of the military to execute law enforcement activities. Conducting aerial strikes to stop alleged criminal activity must not be normalized.

Congress must not rubber stamp further unlawful strikes. It should use all available means to stop the administration from continuing these strikes and hold the administration accountable for its illegal actions. Whether abuses are domestic or foreign, we need you to stand up against them.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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