AG: US boat strikes consistent with international law

Staff members at a Port of Spain bar listen to US president Donald Trump's remarks on the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on January 3. - Photo by Lincoln Holder

ATTORNEY GENERAL John Jeremie said US Navy strikes on vessels suspected of drug trafficking out of Venezuela were consistent with international law, based on advice he received from an international legal expert outside his office.

Speaking with reporters on January 14, at the UNC headquarters in Chaguanas, Jeremie said he sought external legal advice from an international expert outside the Office of the Attorney General before arriving at his conclusion.

“My first look at it, and the advice I took, is the strikes were consistent with international law,” he said. “That was the advice given to me by an international expert.”

Jeremie declined to identify the expert or to discuss the substance of the advice, saying he could not do so without going into its “meat and bones”.

Pressed by reporters on whether two Trinidad and Tobago nationals were killed in the strikes, Jeremie said he had no information to support that claim.

“Even now, I do not know that any TT citizen was killed in any strike,” he said.

Asked whether those actions complied with international law, particularly in relation to due process or whether the absence of due process could be reconciled with international legal standards, Jeremie declined to elaborate, saying he could not answer without disclosing privileged legal advice.

“I’ve done my job, which is to ensure the republic acts in accordance with the law.”

Jeremie added he had conveyed his advice to the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar but would offer no further comment.

Questions were also raised if US military assets were deployed from TT to facilitate the boat strikes or the reported capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on January 3.

Jeremie also had no comments.

Whilst acknowledging US military personnel had been present in TT, Jeremie insisted their presence was not a secret and was unrelated to the strikes.

“We had marines visiting schools and conducting training exercises, intense training exercises, on their own and with our Defence Force,” he said.

He said statements issued on the day of the strikes by the Ministry of Homeland Security and the Ministry of Defence made it clear that TT had no involvement in those operations.