US strikes on alleged drug boats may be ‘crimes against humanity’, UN says
UN expert says US forces have killed 223 people in 68 attacks in the Caribbean and the Pacific in the past year.
A United Nations human rights expert has concluded that US attacks on suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean violate international law and may amount to crimes against humanity.
In a report published on Monday, Ben Saul, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, said the US has struck 68 vessels in international waters between September 2025 and August this year, killing at least 223 people.
The US has defended the strikes as acts of self-defence against “narco-terrorists”, and President Donald Trump has told Congress that the operations reflect a state of armed conflict with designated “terrorist” organisations.
TThe report also noted that less-lethal alternatives were available, including the maritime interception of vessels – a measure that it said has been acknowledged as feasible by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.