UN report says US drug-boat strikes may breach international law

A United Nations special rapporteur has determined that a series of U.S. airstrikes on vessels suspected of drug trafficking may have breached international law and could constitute crimes against humanity. The report, presented to the UN Human Rights Council, notes that at least 68 strikes have been carried out since September of the previous year in the Caribbean and Pacific, outside U.S. territorial waters, resulting in more than 220 deaths.

The rapporteur, Ben Saul, said the attacks do not meet the criteria for self-defence under international law because the targets had not carried out an armed attack against the United States. He described the strikes as “serial extrajudicial killings” that violate the right to life and contravene international humanitarian law, the law of the sea, narcotics-control conventions and counter-terrorism statutes.

U.S. Southern Command, which oversees forces in the region, described the most recent strike as targeting a vessel involved in narco-trafficking, stating that four “narco-terrorists” were killed. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has previously framed the broader operation as a measure to remove “narco-terrorists” from the hemisphere and protect Americans from drug-related harm.

Legal experts and several Latin American leaders have questioned the legality of the strikes since they began. The report adds to ongoing debate over the United States’ use of force against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in international waters.