Amnesty International USA said the strikes are nothing more than a “murder spree.”…
The U.S. military’s strikes on boats in the waters surrounding Central and South America, which have targeted and killed dozens of civilians, constitute some of the most serious violations of international law and must lead to prosecutions of those responsible, a UN human rights expert has said.
Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur for the protection of human rights while countering terrorism and Challis Chair of International Law at the University of Sydney, said the military is carrying out systematic murder after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced four strikes on alleged drug boats earlier this week.
“The U.S. has now murdered 57 civilians in attacks on 14 civilian boats,” said Saul in a post on social media on Wednesday. “A systematic attack on civilians is a crime against humanity under international law. When will other governments speak out?” A crime against humanity is considered one of the most serious violations of international human rights law.
On Tuesday, Hegseth announced that the Trump administration had carried out three strikes on four vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean earlier that day. The strikes killed 14 people and left one survivor.
