U.N. Special Rapporteur Ben Saul says the boat strikes are extrajudicial killings that may be crimes against humanity
U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism, writing in an individual capacity in a briefing note
“It finds that such attacks amount to serial extrajudicial killings in violation of the right to life, being unjustified in national or personal self-defence or under international humanitarian law, the international law of the sea, narcotics suppression conventions, or international counter-terrorism law. … even assuming that the vessels and crew attacked were members of the criminal groups listed as terrorist, such organizations have not mounted any “armed attack” on the United States so as to trigger a right of self-defence. … There are reasonable grounds to believe that the reported 68 attacks that killed 223 people constituted crimes against humanity of murder under customary international law.”
Source and context
Original text
About this source
Briefing note by the U.N. Special Rapporteur assessing the U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats from September 2025 to August 2026 under international law. The OHCHR web page for the note lists it as published on September 15, 2026, and Saul posted it on X on September 20.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original post
About this source
Saul's own post releasing the briefing note, with a link to the OHCHR document.
Reporting
About this source
Guardian report on Saul's briefing note. It reports that Saul posted the note on social media on Sunday night, quotes Southern Command's statement, and says the State Department had not responded to a request for comment.
Reporting
About this source
BBC report on Saul's briefing note. It quotes Southern Command's September 19 statement and Saul's conclusions and says the BBC asked the White House and the State Department for a response.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Saul posted the briefing note on September 20, the day after Southern Command announced the September 19 strike. The note counts U.S. strikes through August 2026.
After the quotation
The BBC reported that it asked the White House and the State Department for a response, and The Guardian reported that the State Department had not responded to a request for comment. As of September 25, 2026, we could not locate a public response from the State Department or the White House that refers to the note.
How this statement is classified
Responding to: Ben Saul said that, even assuming the vessels and crews attacked were members of criminal groups the United States lists as terrorist organizations, those groups have not mounted an armed attack on the United States that would justify self-defense, and that there are reasonable grounds to believe the 68 attacks he counted through August 2026 were crimes against humanity of murder.
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Measured against the September 19 strike and its stated basis, Saul rejects the justification for lethal force even if the crews belonged to groups the United States lists as terrorist organizations. That is an express condemnation of the strikes, which goes beyond disputing how the boats or crews are described.
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Was the U.S. military's September 19 Caribbean boat strike justified by evidence of narcotics trafficking?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
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Read the full case“Donald Trump is dropping bombs across the Caribbean and Pacific in blatant violation of the law and of fundamental human rights … This has done nothing to stop the flow of drugs or to make Americans safer. Instead, it has left hundreds dead, families devastated, and communities in fear. Let us call these attacks what they are: illegal extrajudicial killings.”Read statement
“The cartels are the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere, not good people. They're enemies at war with civilization, using murder, rape, torture, and extortion as instruments of terror. … they should be killed, exiled, or detained as enemy combatants without the possibility of release, which is what we're doing. To that end, the United States has carried out dozens of strikes on cartel drug boats, destroying 97% of the drugs coming into the ocean and sea.”Read statement
“All of these decisive strikes have been against designated narcoterrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores, and the President will continue to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice”Read statement