Venezuela’s National Assembly hosted, this Thursday, November 13 and Friday, November 14, the first Meeting of Jurists in Defense of International Law. The initiative, which included more than one hundred jurists from 35 countries, takes place amid international questions about the jurisprudence of pressure exerted by Washington against Nicolás Maduro’s government – both through bombings of vessels and the movement of aircraft carriers near the Venezuelan coast.

Maduro appeared on the second day of the event. The head of state was given a list with 10 proposals drafted by jurists as attempts to halt Washington’s advances.

Speaking in English, Maduro once more called for peace. “Peace, peace, peace is the order. War no, war no. No to hatred, no to eternal war and no to death.”

“We reaffirm the commitment to continue fighting against disinformation and imperialist aggressions that have affected Venezuela during the last 27 years. This space for dialogue and analysis is fundamental to strengthen international legal defense and protect our nation’s dignity against external attacks, as well as promote a future of respect for international law,” wrote Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, on his social networks.

The Brazilian delegation was represented by lawyer Alexandre Guedes, coordinator of the International Relations Department of the Brazilian Association of Jurists for Democracy (ABJD). “We came here to, in light of international law, show that the United States government’s actions are illegal. In the case of the kidnapping of immigrants [reference to the 252 Venezuelan migrants who were sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador] there was already a growing tendency of violating international law treaties and conventions,” he said in an interview with Brasil de Fato. The Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador by the Trump government between March and April of this year.

Guedes also said that this meeting will serve as a kind of embryo for creating an international jurists association, which would articulate in defense not only of Venezuela but of any country that comes to suffer external interference disrespecting international laws. “Our tendency is to leave here with an international network of jurists for peace and respect for international law. If we don’t organize this way, we will be defeated. We are creating a permanent and international articulation.”

In his speech during the event, he sustained the thesis that the United Nations Charter establishes that National States should not resort to threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or independence of another country. “Any unilateral military operation, that is, not authorized by the UN Security Council, that implies invasion, bombing or direct intervention in another State’s territory without its consent is a violation of this principle. In the Caribbean context, an operation of this type would violate the sovereignty of a Caribbean State,” said the jurist.

Though, there are exceptions. According to Guedes, the UN can recognize the legality of an attack in cases considered as legitimate defense, or when there is authorization from the entity’s Security Council. “For a military operation in the Caribbean, or anywhere, to be legal, it must strictly fall within one of these two exceptions. The lack of Security Council authorization or the absence of a real and imminent armed attack makes the operation illegal,” he concludes.

On Monday, November 10, the entity’s high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, stated in an interview with international news agency AFP that there is “strong evidence” that the United States bombings against vessels can be classified as “extrajudicial executions”. At the end of October, he published a report stating that the attacks violate international law and called for the opening of an investigation. So far, at least 80 people have been killed.

During the event in Caracas, the president of the American Association of Jurists of Argentina, Claudia Rocca, proposed filing a complaint with the International Criminal Court against United States President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for crimes committed against Venezuelan migrants and for attacks on vessels. “The proposal is that, at this meeting, we can form a working group to jointly prepare a complaint to the International Criminal Court,” she said.

First published in Portuguese on Brasil de Fato.

The post Jurists from 35 countries gathered in Caracas to condemn US attacks appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

From Peoples Dispatch via this RSS feed