<
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/11/01/trump-boat-strikes-international-law-interview-00632077>
"The Trump administration continues undeterred in its campaign to kill alleged
drug traffickers in international waters near Central and South America despite
an emerging consensus among legal experts who say that the effort is illegal.
As of this writing, the U.S. military has killed at least 61 people. On Friday,
Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the
killings and said they were illegal under international law. President Gustavo
Petro of Colombia has accused the Trump administration of “murder” in
connection with the death of a man that Petro described as a fisherman on one
of the boats. Meanwhile, the administration is stonewalling Congress.
According to Philippe Sands, who frequently argues before international
tribunals, the administration’s actions are “contrary to the basic precepts of
international law.” The question, of course, is what that means as a practical
matter and whether foreign governments — including the countries whose citizens
have been killed in the attacks — might try to do anything about it.
As it happens, Sands recently published a well-reviewed book,
38 Londres
Street, about efforts by foreign countries to bring the Chilean dictator
Augusto Pinochet to justice.
In an interview with
POLITICO Magazine, he discussed the lessons from the
Pinochet case, the relevance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump immunity
decision and the potential mechanisms for international legal accountability.
Prosecuting a senior U.S. official, let alone a president, in a foreign court
would be immensely difficult politically — but it may not be impossible.
“I think it’s a sort of ‘watch this space’ type of scenario,” Sands said. “It’s
hard to predict what direction these matters might take.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
