US strike on Venezuelan vessel could be war crime, say Democrats

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Senior Democrats said US defence secretary Pete Hegseth may have committed war crimes by allegedly ordering a strike on surviving crew members of a suspected Venezuelan drug smuggling vessel in the Caribbean in September.

Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Kelly suggested on Sunday that Hegseth may have broken international law following US media reports that he ordered all those aboard the vessel be killed after an initial strike left two survivors.

“If that reporting is true, it’s a clear violation of the [Department of Defense’s] own laws of war, as well as international laws about the way you treat people who are in that circumstance,” Kaine, a Democrat senator from Virginia, told CBS Face the Nation on Sunday.

Separately, Kelly, a Democrat senator from Arizona, was asked if the alleged instruction constituted a war crime. He responded: “It seems to.”

“If that is true, if what has been reported is accurate, I’ve got serious concerns about anybody in that chain of command stepping over a line that they should never step over,” Kelly told CNN’s State of the Union.

The strike took place on September 2 and was the first in the US’s military campaign against suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Hegseth’s order was first reported by the Washington Post.

The Senate and House armed services committees have both vowed greater scrutiny of the Trump administration’s campaign against the alleged drug boats. Given that both committees are led by Republicans, their fact-finding efforts mark a rare divergence from the White House by its congressional allies.

“This committee is committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean”, said representatives Mike Rogers and Adam Smith, the top Republican and Democrat on the House armed services committee on Saturday.

“We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question.”

Senators Roger Wicker and Jack Reed, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate armed services committee, said they were “aware of recent news reports — and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels.”

Their committee “has directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”

The US has conducted at least 21 strikes killing at least 83 people since September 2. 

Hegseth on Friday said that “our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both US and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict — and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command.”

The strikes have sparked concerns from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, human rights experts and critics that the military actions were illegal under domestic and international law.

The controversy comes amid mounting tension between Washington and Caracas, as US President Donald Trump weighs launching strikes on Venezuelan soil. 

Trump said on Thursday that Washington could strike alleged drug traffickers inside Venezuela “very soon”. On Saturday, the president said airspace over the country should be considered closed. 

Senator Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, said on Sunday that the president had not committed to air or land strikes against Venezuela.*

“He’s made it very clear we’re not going to put troops into Venezuela. What we’re trying to do is protect our own shores.”

He added: “Kelly is saying the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard right now. He’s encouraging men and women in uniform to question the orders of superior officers.”

The Pentagon has threatened Kelly, a retired Navy captain, with legal proceedings following a video in which he and other Democrats called on US troops to refuse illegal orders. 

Venezuela’s authoritarian president Nicolás Maduro has said that the strikes against drug-traffickers are a pretext for his ousting. 

Washington regards Maduro as the leader of the Cartel of the Suns, which was on November 26 declared a foreign terrorist organisation. A reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest was doubled to $50mn in August.

Following Trump’s comment on Saturday that Venezuelan airspace would be closed, the foreign ministry in Caracas said that Washington had unilaterally suspended migrant deportation flights from the US to Venezuela.

Russian press reported on Sunday that Russian package holiday tours to Venezuela’s Margarita Island had been diverted to Cuba.

Vice-president Delcy Rodríguez said in a Telegram post on Saturday evening that Maduro had ordered a “special plan” for the return of Venezuelans stranded abroad.

“Venezuela has activated all multilateral mechanisms in accordance with international law for the immediate cessation of this illegitimate and illegal action,” Rodríguez said. “Venezuela will prevail!”

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Mullin was from Ohio