UN human rights chief calls on Pentagon to halt strikes on suspected drug boats
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for the Pentagon to halt boat strikes against vessels suspected to be carrying drugs in order to prevent “extrajudicial killings.”
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for Türk, delivered a statement condemning the strikes during a United Nations briefing Friday.
“These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable,” she said. “The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.” She also called for “prompt, independent, and transparent investigations” into the U.S. government’s actions in an apparent first-of-its-kind condemnation from a U.N. organization.
The U.S. military has carried out at least 14 strikes against boats allegedly trafficking drugs to the U.S. since the first one was announced at the beginning of September. The strikes have taken place in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, prompting heavy criticism from nearby countries, including Venezuela.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the most recent strike Wednesday, which he said killed four “narco-terrorists” on a boat operated by a designated terrorist organization. He did not specify which organization had operated the boat, which he has also not done for several previous strikes.
The Trump administration has also so far not provided evidence of its claims that the boats are smuggling drugs. The administration estimates its operations have so far killed 61 people.
Legal experts and politicians on both sides of the aisle have sounded the alarm on the legality of the strikes. The Trump administration has generally dismissed these concerns, but to provide legal rationale for the strikes, the White House earlier this month declared the U.S. in “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels it deems as terrorist groups.
Republicans and Democrats have criticized the administration for the strikes, even introducing a resolution that challenged the Trump administration’s authority to carry out its hits against the boats. Though the resolution failed, it drew bipartisan support. Senate Democrats continue to question the boat strikes’ adherence to international law.
Members of both parties also expressed frustration with the Trump administration’s explanations of the boat strikes during a Thursday briefing.
Türk echoed these concerns in his Friday statement, saying the strikes were taking place “outside the context” of active hostilities or armed conflict. Shamdasani also said Türk believed the strikes “violate international human rights law.”
Fights against illicit drug-enforcement trafficking had “careful limits” on lethal force, which should only be used as a last resort against someone posing “an imminent threat to life,” Shamdasani said on Türk’s behalf. “Otherwise, it would amount to a violation of the right of life and constitute extrajudicial killings.”