A former Argentinian prosecutor for the International Criminal Court told the BBC on Thursday that recent US airstrikes on suspected boats smuggling drugs in the US would constitute crimes against humanity under international law. 

Luis Moreno Ocampo said the strikes by President Donald Trump’s administration fell into the category of a planned, systematic attack against civilians during peacetime. He stated, “These are criminals, not soldiers. Criminals are civilians.” He added, “They are criminals, and we should do better at investigating them, prosecuting them and controlling them, but not killing people.” 

Ocampo said:

For me, it’s very clear. A crime against humanity is a systematic attack against a civilian population, and there is no clarity why these people are not civilians, even [though] they could be criminals … and it’s clearly systematic, because President Trump says they have planned and they organised this, so that should be the charge.

In response to this, the White House has asserted the ICC’s absence of jurisdiction in the US and claimed that the vessels were “trying to bring poison to our shores … destroying American lives.”

In July it was reported that Trump covertly signed an order instructing the US military to use force against Latin American organizations that he deemed terrorists. From approximately September onwards, 16 airstrikes have occurred on vessels, with 67 known deaths being reported. The first of these reported strikes on September 2 killed 11 people on board off the coast of Venezuela. The US military has also conducted strikes in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific since then.

President Trump has refused to seek congressional approval and has received condemnation from several UN figures. In October, Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča stated that the UN cannot independently confirm US claims that the strikes targeted drug-trafficking vessels. He added that the events pose “mounting risks to regional peace,” urging all sides to exercise restraint.

Earlier this week, UN human rights experts said the strikes could constitute war crimes. The experts called for an immediate halt to the strikes and an independent investigation.

Trump has defended the US military’s use of strikes, warning on social media, “If you are transporting drugs that can kill Americans, we are hunting you.”