US strikes on alleged drug boats may be crimes against humanity, says UN

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In a damning report, Ben Saul, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, said US attacks on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean violate international law.

Mr Saul said the US has struck 68 vessels in international waters between September 2025 and this August, killing at least 223 people.

The US has defended the strikes as acts of self-defence against what they describe as “narco-terrorists.”

US President Donald Trump has claimed that the operations reflect a state of armed conflict with designated “terrorist” organisations.

But Mr Saul’s report rejects that argument.

The report said: “The US military attacks are contrary to international law, violate the human right to life, and plausibly constitute crimes against humanity.”

The findings came two days after the US military announced it had killed four people in a strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea. 

The US shooting spree has also drawn condemnation from human rights groups, which have called the killings extrajudicial. 

The Pentagon has released videos of the strikes on social media but has disclosed little about who was killed or what evidence tied them to drug trafficking.

Mr Saul’s report said the US has no right to the use of force in self-defence against alleged drug trafficking.

The report also argues that the killings meet the legal definition of murder as a crime against humanity, since they were carried out “systematically” under an organised state policy and are widespread “given the large number of victims.”

The report calls on the US to investigate the killings, prosecute those responsible, including political and military leaders who ordered the strikes, and provide reparations to victims’ families.

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