A former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has told BBC that US air strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats would be treated under international law as crimes against humanity.
The comments by Luis Moreno Ocampo come as the Trump administration faces mounting questions over the legality of the attacks in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific - which have killed at least 66 people in the last two months.
The administration says it is in a formal armed conflict with South American traffickers who are bringing drugs into the US.
But Mr. Moreno Ocampo said the military campaign fell into the category of a planned, systematic attack against civilians during peacetime.
This, he said, meant that the campaign fell into the category of crimes against humanity.
These are criminals, not soldiers. Criminals are civilians, said Mr. Moreno Ocampo of the US allegations against the boat crews. They are criminals, and we should do better at investigating them, prosecuting them and controlling them, but not killing people, he told the BBC.
The White House responded that President Trump acted in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect the US from cartels trying to bring poison to our shores... destroying American lives. It highlighted that the ICC had no jurisdiction over the United States and argued that it was a biased, unserious entity.
In response to these claims, Mr. Moreno Ocampo expressed concerns over the dangerous expansion of the presidential use of lethal force. Historically, he noted, suspected drug traffickers would be arrested rather than killed, emphasizing that many of those targeted are civilians.
The Trump administration sought to justify the strikes by asserting an armed conflict designation against drug cartels, labeling them as unlawful combatants. This claim has drawn criticism, with questions raised about the legal justifications behind this framework for military action.
As the situation continues to escalate, both sides of the political spectrum in the US grapple with the implications of the strikes, making it clear that this issue will remain a contentious topic in domestic and international discussions on military engagement and human rights.
