The UN human rights chief says US military strikes against vessels allegedly carrying illegal drugs from South America are “unacceptable” and must stop. The condemnation on Friday appeared to mark the first of its kind from a United Nations organisation. President Donald Trump has justified the attacks on the boats as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.
Volker Turk, the rights chief, called for an investigation into the strikes, and said more than 60 people had reportedly been killed in the strikes on boats in the region since early September, said UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani. “These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable,” she told a UN briefing in Geneva on Friday.
She said Turk believed “airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and in the Pacific violate international human rights law.” “These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable,” she added. “The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.” Shamdasani noted US explanations of the efforts as an anti-drug and counter-terrorism campaign, but said countries have long agreed that the fight against illicit drug trafficking is a law-enforcement matter governed by “careful limits” placed on the use of lethal force.
