UN experts condemn US naval blockade of Venezuela as illegal aggression

UN experts criticise US blockade for endangering quality rights and telephone for an probe into alleged violations.

Four United Nations quality rights experts person condemned the partial naval blockade of Venezuela by the United States, uncovering it an amerciable equipped aggression and calling connected the US Congress to intervene.

“There is nary close to enforce unilateral sanctions done an equipped blockade,” the UN experts said successful a associated connection connected Wednesday.

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The US has deployed a large subject unit successful the Caribbean and intercepted lipid tankers arsenic portion of a naval blockade against Venezuelan vessels it considers to beryllium nether sanctions.

A blockade is simply a prohibited usage of subject unit against different state nether the UN Charter, they added.

“It is specified a superior usage of unit that it is besides expressly recognised arsenic amerciable equipped aggression nether the General Assembly’s 1974 Definition of Aggression,” the experts said. “The amerciable usage of force, and threats to usage further unit astatine oversea and connected land, gravely endanger the quality close to beingness and different rights successful Venezuela and the region.”

US President Donald Trump accuses Venezuela of utilizing oil, the South American country’s main resource, to concern “narcoterrorism, quality trafficking, murders and kidnappings”.

Caracas denies immoderate engagement successful cause trafficking. It says Washington is seeking to overthrow its president, Nicolas Maduro, to prehend Venezuela’s lipid reserves, the largest successful the world.

Since September, US forces person launched dozens of aerial strikes connected boats that Washington alleges were transporting drugs. It has yet to supply grounds for those accusations. More than 100 radical person been killed.

‘US Congress should intervene’

“These killings magnitude to violations of the close to life. They indispensable beryllium investigated and those liable held accountable,” the experts said.

“Meanwhile, the US Congress should intervene to forestall further attacks and assistance the blockade,” they added.

They called connected countries to instrumentality measures to halt the blockade and amerciable killings and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The 4 who signed the associated connection are: Ben Saul, peculiar rapporteur connected protecting quality rights portion countering “terrorism”; George Katrougalos, an adept connected promoting a antiauthoritarian and equitable planetary order; improvement adept Surya Deva; and Gina Romero, peculiar rapporteur connected the close to state of peaceful assembly and association.