U.S. airstrikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific violate international human rights law and must stop, the United Nations said on Friday.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement to ABC News that the attacks violated international law and called for an investigation into the attacks.
“These attacks and their mounting human toll are unacceptable. The United States must stop such attacks and take all necessary measures to prevent extrajudicial killings of people on these ships, regardless of the crimes they are accused of,” Türk said.
“Under international human rights law, the intentional use of lethal force should only be used as a last resort against an individual who poses an imminent threat to life,” he added. “Based on the very little information publicly provided by U.S. authorities, none of the persons on board the targeted vessel appeared to pose an imminent threat to the lives of others, nor would the use of lethal force against them be justified under international law.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on October 29, 2025, that the United States had conducted another attack on a suspected drug trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific, resulting in the deaths of four people.
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White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told ABC News that President Donald Trump is working to eliminate threats to U.S. security.
“The United Nations has failed at everything from operating escalators to ending wars – and it's laughable that they are now lecturing President Trump and providing cover for vicious narco-terrorists seeking to murder Americans,” Kelly said. “The President is acting under the laws of armed conflict to protect our country from those seeking to bring narcotics to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to target drug cartels and eliminate these life-destroying national security threats.”
Since September, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have carried out more than a dozen military strikes against ships in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, saying they were counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism measures.
More than 60 people are said to have been killed in the attack, according to U.S. officials.
Announcing the latest and deadliest attack on Wednesday, Hegseth said the United States “conducted a deadly kinetic attack on another drug trafficking vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization in the Eastern Pacific.”
He added: “As with all other vessels, our intelligence learned that this vessel was involved in illegal narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narcotics trafficking route, and was carrying narcotics.”
This is the first time the United Nations has condemned the attack.
“The United States should investigate and, if necessary, prosecute and punish individuals accused of serious crimes in accordance with the fundamental rule of law principles of due process and fair trial that the United States has long upheld,” a statement from his office said.
Türk spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani echoed this sentiment at a U.N. press conference on Friday.
“These attacks and their mounting human toll are unacceptable. The United States must stop such attacks and take all necessary measures to prevent extrajudicial killings of those aboard these ships,” she said.