UN Reports US Committed Crimes Against Humanity Twice in One Week
NEW YORK – A United Nations report has concluded that United States attacks on vessels suspected of involvement in drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific regions are illegal and can be categorised as “crimes against humanity”. Previously, the US was also accused of similar crimes involving the killing of over one hundred children at a school in Minab, Iran.
In a report published on Monday, UN Special Rapporteur Ben Saul stated that attacks on 68 vessels between September last year and August have resulted in at least 223 deaths and involved the “illegal use of force” that was disproportionate.
These findings were released just days after the US military announced its latest attack on another vessel, which killed four people. The administration of US President Donald Trump, which views the operations against these vessels as part of a military conflict, stated that such actions were necessary to prevent the influx of deadly drugs into the United States.
The administration described the drug shipments as an “armed attack” against US territory.
The report concluded that the attacks carried out by US forces cannot be justified under either national or international law, and thus can be categorised as a “series of extrajudicial killings that violate the right to life.”
The report stated that these actions “are allegedly crimes against humanity.”
Furthermore, the report noted that although the targets were proven to be members of organised criminal groups or “terrorist” groups as claimed by the US, there is no evidence to show that they had launched armed attacks against the US or were acting as proxies for another state—actions that could otherwise serve as justification for US military strikes.
Saul, the UN Special Rapportiment on counter-terrorism and human rights, added that drug trafficking “is not equivalent to a military attack.”
Additionally, observers noted that the Trump administration never provided any evidence to demonstrate that the vessels they attacked were actually transporting drugs.
The UN report also questioned the legality of US efforts to forcibly arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January—an event that resulted in 75 deaths—as well as cooperation with other Latin American nations under the “Shield of the Americas” framework initiated by the Trump administration. This initiative aimed to expand US anti-drug operations into the region’s mainland.
The UN report called for an internal investigation and requested accountability for the commanders involved in these operations. The report concluded that the attacks failed to prevent the entry of cocaine into the United States via insufficiently inspected container ships.