On Sept. 2, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the sinking of an outboard motor-powered, open boat somewhere in the Caribbean, killing 11 people. The Trump administration claims that the boat departed from Venezuela and was operated by Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that the United States designated as a foreign terrorist organization in February. Rather than interdicting and searching the vessel, then arresting its occupants if evidence of drug smuggling were discovered—the approach that the United States normally uses to counter narcotics trafficking at sea, which is the approach required by law—the Trump administration chose to kill all those aboard. And it has promised more such killings to come.

Responsible states do not kill people intentionally without a legal basis. While one might debate the source in international law, human beings clearly enjoy a right to life, and when a state takes a life, it must have some legal basis for doing so. As W. Hays Parks wrote nearly 30 years ago with respect to the U.S. prohibition on assassination, “In peacetime, the citizens of a nation—whether private individuals or public figures—are entitled to immunity from intentional acts of violence by citizens, agents, or military forces of another nation.”

On Sept. 2, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the sinking of an outboard motor-powered, open boat somewhere in the Caribbean, killing 11 people. The Trump administration claims that the boat departed from Venezuela and was operated by Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that the United States designated as a foreign terrorist organization in February. Rather than interdicting and searching the vessel, then arresting its occupants if evidence of drug smuggling were discovered—the approach that the United States normally uses to counter narcotics trafficking at sea, which is the approach required by law—the Trump administration chose to kill all those aboard. And it has promised more such killings to come.

Responsible states do not kill people intentionally without a legal basis. While one might debate the source in international law, human beings clearly enjoy a right to life, and when a state takes a life, it must have some legal basis for doing so. As W. Hays Parks wrote nearly 30 years ago with respect to the U.S. prohibition on assassination, “In peacetime, the citizens of a nation—whether private individuals or public figures—are entitled to immunity from intentional acts of violence by citizens, agents, or military forces of another nation.”

Of course, there are legal bases for killing individuals in certain circumstances—self-defense is one; the existence of an ongoing armed conflict is another—but alleged narcotics trafficking is not. Moreover, whether in peace, war, or extremis, the circumstances in which a state may use lethal force are........

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