UN Chief: US Boat Strikes Violate International Law

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned recent U.S. airstrikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific as unacceptable, saying the killings may amount to extrajudicial executions and calling for an immediate halt and prompt, independent, transparent investigations. Türk stressed that under international human rights law lethal force is only permissible as a last resort against those who pose an imminent threat, and said publicly available information does not show the targeted individuals met that threshold. U.S. officials, including President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have defended the strikes as counter‑narco operations and the White House said the actions were lawful and necessary to protect Americans. Reports say more than a dozen strikes since early September have killed at least 61–62 people, and the administration has framed the campaign as an “armed conflict” with designated narco groups. The strikes have drawn criticism from legal experts, nearby governments and rights groups, and the U.N. rebuke — a rare formal condemnation of U.S. operations — has heightened calls for accountability and clarification of the legal basis for the campaign.