Trump’s Illegal Boat Strikes Prompts Historic Move from the U.N.The U.N. human rights chief called the strikes “unacceptable.” +
The U.N. human rights chief has taken the unprecedented step of condemning America’s military strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, accusing the U.S. of violating international law.
The Trump administration has committed 14 known strikes on small boats in the two regions over the last two months, killing at least 61 people.
Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, issued the critique—the first of its kind—Friday, calling for a “prompt, independent, and transparent” investigation into the strikes.
“These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable,” Türk said, as relayed by spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani. “The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”
Shamdasani added that Türk believed “airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and in the Pacific violate international human rights law.”
The White House has insisted the violence is justified, broadly accusing the boats of trafficking narcotics to the U.S. from Venezuela and Colombia, though U.S. lawmakers have been more than skeptical—particularly since several of the boats were thousands of miles away in international waters, and since the attacks were conducted without prior investigations or interdiction. On Thursday, Democratic Representative Sara Jacobs revealed Pentagon officials weren’t even concerned with identifying the people on the boats before attacking.
Trump has blamed the attacks on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who has remained atop the country’s government despite Trump’s forceful attempts in 2019 to install then–opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Last week, the Pentagon announced it would deploy the world’s largest warship—the USS Gerald R. Ford—to Latin America in an effort to ramp up the military firepower available for fighting the small watercraft.
But the escalation has only further strained America’s relationship with its Latin American neighbors. In an address to his country late last week, Maduro accused the U.S. of fabricating “a new eternal war.” |
