The U.S. strikes on Venezuela are prohibited under international law, but a possible criminal trial for Nicolás Maduro in the U.S. could still go ahead, according to one analyst.
Fire is seen at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, after a series of explosions in Caracas today. STR / AFP via Getty Images
“International law prohibits the use of force as a means of national policy,” said Professor Marc Weller, director of the international law program at the London-based think tank Chatham House.
Force is “only available in response to an armed attack or possibly to rescue a population under imminent threat of extermination,” he added. “Clearly, none of these requirements are fulfilled by the armed operation against Venezuela.”
The U.S.’s interest in repressing the drug trade or its claims that the Maduro government was in essence a criminal enterprise “offers no legal justification,” according to Weller.
However, he said a trial for Maduro could go ahead, citing precedent from the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989 and the capture of its President Manuel Noriega, who was brought to Miami for trial over alleged drugs offenses.
“U.S. courts follow the so-called Kerr-Frisbie doctrine,” Weller said. “According to that controversial doctrine, it does not matter how a suspect is brought before a U.S. Court. A trial can go ahead, even if it results from an unlawful armed intervention or abduction, provided the suspect has not been severely tortured in the process.”