UN Experts Condemn Deadly US Strikes on Suspected Drug Boats | Agency-Wire
The experts said the operations have killed about 227 people and violate international law because suspected traffickers were never charged.
- On Tuesday, United Nations experts issued a statement demanding an end to unlawful United States military strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, citing grave violations of international law.
- President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched Operation Southern Spear on September 2, 2025, claiming lethal force against transnational criminal organizations is necessary to curtail drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.
- Since the campaign began, 69 strikes have killed roughly 227 individuals, including 41-year-old Rishi Samaroo and 26-year-old Chad Joseph, who vanished in October 2025 while traveling to Las Cuevas, Trinidad.
- Human Rights Watch crisis director Ida Sawyer condemned the campaign for lacking accountability, while relatives filed a federal lawsuit on January 27, 2026, seeking compensation for the deaths.
- Rejecting self-defense claims under Article 51, UN experts urged Congress to investigate the strikes and called on partner nations to cease intelligence sharing that may enable these extrajudicial killings.
11 Articles
11 Articles
United States: Year of Extrajudicial Killings at Sea
Click to expand Image US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks to reporters after a closed door briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on US military strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, Washington, DC, December 16, 2025. © 2025 Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP Photo (Washington, DC, September 2, 2026) – Today marks one year since the United States began an unlawful campaign of lethal military st…
UN experts demand an end to unlawful killings by the US in the Caribbean and Pacific
United Nations experts on Tuesday issued a statement demanding an end to the unlawful attacks and killings carried out by the United States military on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. The experts indicated that, over the course of a year, these attacks—which resumed in August after a months-long hiatus—were not justifiable under international humanitarian law. The experts stated: “These systematic killings gravely …
UN rapporteurs have reported that at least 223 people have been killed in US airstrikes in the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans in the past year, describing the attacks as "extrajudicial and unlawful killings."
At least 223 people have been killed in the past year by the U.S. armed forces while sailing in international waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, alerting United Nations human rights experts. Since September 2, 2025, the U.S. military has attacked at least 68 boats in [...] The U.S. post has killed 223 people in international waters; experts demand a stop first appeared on Contralínea.
A year after the United States began bombing vessels suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific, the Donald Trump government's offensive killed at least 227 people, but without producing, so far, clear signs of reducing the supply of illicit substances in the American market. Read more (09/01/2026
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources lean Left
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
