geneva
Associated Press
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The U.N. human rights chief said Friday that U.S. military attacks on ships in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific believed to be carrying illegal drugs from South America are “unacceptable” and must stop.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for an investigation into the strike, which is believed to be the first accusation of its kind by a UN agency.
Spokesperson for the Turkish President’s Office, Ravina Shamdasani, delivered her message at a regular UN briefing on Friday: “These attacks and the resulting increased human suffering are unacceptable. The United States must take all necessary measures to halt such attacks and prevent the extrajudicial killings of those aboard these boats.”
She said Mr. Turk believed that “U.S. boat air strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean violate international human rights law.”
US President Donald Trump has justified the attacks on the boats as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the US, but the campaign against drug cartels has polarized countries in the region.
The airstrikes and the increased U.S. military presence near Venezuela have raised concerns that the Trump administration may seek to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is facing drug-terrorism charges in the United States.
Asked Friday if he was considering a ground attack on Venezuela, President Trump said “no.” He spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to Florida over the weekend, but did not elaborate.
Speaking from the Japanese aircraft carrier USS George Washington earlier this week, President Trump referred to the U.S. attack at sea and reiterated, “This time, we’re going to stop drugs coming in by land.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday a U.S. military attack on a ship it said was carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean. All four people on board were killed. It was the 14th strike since the campaign began in early September, and the death toll rose to at least 61.
Shamdasani noted that the United States describes the effort as an anti-drug and counter-terrorism campaign, but said countries have long agreed that combating illegal drug trafficking is a law enforcement issue subject to “prudent limits” placed on the use of deadly force.
The intentional use of deadly force is only allowed as a last resort against someone who represents an “imminent threat to life,” she said. “Otherwise, it would amount to a violation of the right to life and amount to extrajudicial killing.”
Shamdasani said the attack took place “outside the context” of armed conflict or active hostilities.
