Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s October 14 announcement of an airstrike killing six people in the Caribbean, Amnesty International USA’s Director for Security and Human Rights, Daphne Eviatar, said:
“Yesterday’s U.S. airstrike in the Caribbean killing six people was murder—plain and simple. There is no plausible legal justification for the Trump administration to use the U.S. military to kill whoever it unilaterally deems a ‘terrorist’.
“This was the fifth U.S. strike in the Caribbean since early September, bringing the body count—by the administration’s own admission—to 27. These airstrikes outrageously flout international law and set a dangerous precedent for other leaders around the world.
“Congress must do everything in its power to stop these murders and hold those responsible accountable.”
Background
On September 3, the U.S. claimed it bombed a boat allegedly departing from Venezuela, killing 11 people.
On September 15, President Trump claimed responsibility for another lethal strike on a boat in the Caribbean, reportedly killing three people. Days later, President Trump announced a third strike killing three more people.
On October 2, U.S. media reported that President Trump had declared drug cartels as “unlawful combatants” and that the U.S. is in a “non-international armed conflict” with them. Such pronouncements reveal an incorrect understanding and application of international law, and do not change the fact that these airstrikes are clearly illegal under international human rights law.
The next day, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a fourth strike that he said killed four people near Venezuela.
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