GENEVA - Airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific - allegedly linked to drug trafficking - violate international human rights law, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Friday.
"Over 60 people have reportedly been killed in a continuing series of attacks carried out by US armed forces against boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific since early September, in circumstances that find no justification in international law," the High Commissioner said.
"These attacks - and their mounting human cost - are unacceptable. The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them."
The US has argued that these actions are part of necessary anti-drug and counter-terrorism operations, and amount to actions governed by international humanitarian law.
"Yet countering the serious issue of illicit trafficking of drugs across international borders is - as has long been agreed among States - a law-enforcement matter, governed by the careful limits on lethal force set out in international human rights law," Türk said.
"Under international human rights law, the intentional use of lethal force is only permissible as a last resort against individuals who pose an imminent threat to life."
"Based on the very sparse information provided publicly by the US authorities, none of the individuals on the targeted boats appeared to pose an imminent threat to the lives of others or otherwise justified the use of lethal armed force against them under international law," he added.
Türk called for prompt, independent, and transparent investigations into these attacks.
While recognising the challenges involved in combating drug trafficking, the High Commissioner urged the US Government to adhere to international law, including as set out in applicable counter-narcotics treaties to which the US is also party.
Türk called on the authorities to maintain use of well-established law enforcement methods to respond to alleged illicit trafficking, including through lawfully intercepting boats and detaining suspects under the applicable rules of criminal law.
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, for which the US has long stood.
