A United Nations report has concluded that US strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific are illegal and could constitute “crimes against humanity”.
uncertain
strikes → conclude → humanity
In a report published on Monday, UN Special Rapporteur Ben Saul said attacks on 68 vessels from September last year to August killed at least 223 people and entailed the “illegal use” of disproportionate force.
asserted
attacks → publish → force
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4US strikes on alleged drug boats may be ‘crimes against humanity’, UN says
- list 2 of 4‘Handcuffed and blindfolded’: Is the US targeting Ecuadorian fishermen?
- list 3 of 4Ecuador defends US sinking of vessels as joint anti-drug operation
- list 4 of 4US announces $45m in security funding, additional naval vessels for Ecuador
The findings were released just days after the US military announced its latest attack on another boat, which killed four people.
uncertain
which → allege → people
US President Donald Trump’s administration, which frames the operations against the boats as part of a military conflict, said they are necessary to prevent the flow of lethal drugs into the United States.
asserted
they → frame → States
It has described the drug shipments as an “armed attack” on US territory.
asserted
It → describe → territory
Here’s what we know about why the US has been attacking the boats and whether these strikes are legal:
asserted
strikes → ’ → boats
What does the UN report say?
asserted
report → say → What
The report found that the strikes by US forces are unjustified under national and international law and thus amount to “serial extrajudicial killings in violation of the right to life”.
asserted
strikes → find → life
They “plausibly constitute crimes against humanity”, it said.
asserted
it → constitute → humanity
Even if those attacked were found to be members of organised criminal or “terrorist” groups as the US has claimed, there is no evidence that they had launched an armed attack on the US or were being used as proxies by other countries, which would warrant a US military attack, the report noted.
asserted
report → attack → attack
Saul, the UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, added that drug trafficking “is not equivalent to a military attack”.
asserted
trafficking → add → attack
Furthermore, observers have noted, the Trump administration has never provided any evidence that any of the boats it has struck were trafficking drugs.
asserted
it → note → drugs
The UN report also cast doubt over the legality of the US abduction of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, during which 75 people were killed, as well as collaborations with other Latin American countries under the Trump administration-initiated “Shield of the Americas”.
asserted
people → cast → Americas
The initiative seeks to extend US antidrug operations to land across the region.
asserted
initiative → seek → region
The UN report called for internal investigations and for commanders involved in the operations to be held accountable.
asserted
commanders → call → operations
It concluded that the strikes have failed to prevent the arrival of cocaine in the US on container ships. which are not adequately checked.
asserted
which → conclude → ships
Why has the US launched strikes on boats?
asserted
US → launch → boats
Washington first began striking boats it claimed were trafficking drugs from Venezuela to the US across the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean in September last year.
asserted
it → begin → September
The US military has routinely released videos on social media showing the moments the vessels are hit but has disclosed little about those killed and has not provided evidence tying them to drug trafficking.
asserted
vessels → release → trafficking
Furthermore, experts said most drugs come into the US via Mexico by land through its southern border and do not originate in Venezuela.
asserted
drugs → say → Venezuela
Families of those killed have often said they were fishermen and not drug smugglers.
asserted
they → kill → those
The UN report listed 223 casualties from 68 strikes carried out through August.
asserted
report → list → August
Two additional attacks this month have raised the number of those killed to 234 in 70 strikes.
asserted
attacks → raise → strikes
In the first set of attacks on September 2, 2025, the US military allegedly used a “double tap” tactic, launching a second attack to finish off the survivors of an initial strike.
uncertain
military → use → strike
The first attacks killed 11 people.
asserted
attacks → kill → people
The move drew intense criticism from the US Congress, which called for the Pentagon to release full videos of the strikes.
asserted
Pentagon → draw → strikes
There were also allegations that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given the order to “kill them all” in the double-tap strike.
asserted
Hegseth → be → strike
However, senior military commanders later testified in Congress that he did not.
asserted
he → testify → Congress
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Michael Vigil, former chief of international operations at the US Drug Enforcement Administration, said: “That is murder.
asserted
That → speak → Administration
No matter how you spell it out, it’s murder, … and it shocks the moral conscience.”
asserted
it → spell → conscience
How does the US justify the strikes?
asserted
US → justify → strikes
The most recent attack on Saturday killed four people, according to the US military.
uncertain
attack → kill → military
It alleged that the boat was travelling “along established narco-trafficking routes” and “confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking”.
asserted
intelligence → allege → trafficking
Trump has claimed the US is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has repeatedly justified the boat attacks as necessary to halt the flow of drugs into the country.
asserted
US → claim → country
Senior officials have also claimed the US is abiding by due process.
asserted
US → claim → process
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Senate hearing in July that “every strike has a legal officer on the deck that has to make a determination about whether the call is legal or not”.
asserted
call → say → determination
Rights organisations, however, have challenged the killings.
asserted
organisations → challenge → killings
In January, the families of two Trinidadian men – Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41 – brought the first case against the US government over the boat attacks to a federal court in Massachusetts.
asserted
families → bring → Massachusetts
The suit, aided by US legal groups, argued the victims were fishermen.
asserted
victims → aid → groups
Separately in December, the family of Colombian Alejandro Carranza Medina filed a human rights complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which is part of the Organization of American States.
asserted
which → file → States
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
