Why United Nations says US boat strikes may be ‘crimes against humanity’

A United Nations report has concluded that US strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific are illegal and may constitute "crimes against humanity." UN Special Rapporteur Ben Saul stated that attacks on 68 vessels between September last year and August killed at least 223 people and involved the "illegal use" of disproportionate force. The US administration justifies these strikes as necessary to halt lethal drug flows, framing drug shipments as an "armed attack" on US territory. However, the UN report found no evidence that the targeted vessels launched an armed attack on the US or were used as proxies, and noted that drug trafficking is not equivalent to a military attack. The report also questioned the effectiveness of these strikes in preventing drug arrivals in the US.

A United Nations human rights expert, Ben Saul, has concluded that US attacks on suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific oceans may constitute crimes against humanity. Between September 2025 and August 2026, US forces conducted 68 strikes on vessels in international waters, resulting in the deaths of at least 223 people. The report states these attacks violate international law and the human right to life, arguing that drug trafficking does not meet the legal threshold for self-defense. The US has defended the strikes as acts of self-defense against "narco-terrorists," but the UN report found no factual basis that designated groups were acting as proxies of the Venezuelan state. Human rights groups have also condemned the killings as extrajudicial.

A UN human rights council special rapporteur has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that US attacks on boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, conducted since September 2025, constitute crimes against humanity. These strikes, aimed at stopping alleged drug trafficking, have resulted in over 230 deaths. The rapporteur, Ben Saul, stated that 68 attacks killing 223 people likely amounted to crimes against humanity of murder under customary international law. He rejected claims that the attacks were acts of self-defense, finding the crews were not militarily armed and had not launched an armed attack on the US. The US Southern Command has confirmed carrying out such strikes, identifying victims as "narco-terrorists" without providing details on intelligence or victims. Data suggests these attacks have not impacted the volume of cocaine entering the US.

A UN report by Special Rapporteur Ben Saul concludes that recent US airstrikes on alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, occurring outside US territorial waters since September last year, may constitute crimes against humanity. The report states there have been at least 68 such strikes, resulting in over 220 deaths, and that these actions were not justified by self-defense under international law, even if targets were identified as members of designated terrorist groups. Saul asserts that these attacks represent serial extrajudicial killings violating the right to life and that there are reasonable grounds to believe they amount to crimes against humanity of murder under customary international law. The US military has previously stated such operations target "narco-terrorists" involved in drug trafficking.