Ben Saul is an Australian international lawyer and academic. He is Challis Chair of International Law at the University of Sydney and, since November 1, 2023, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, a role held in an individual capacity.
Case
U.S. Southern Command says confirmed intelligence showed a vessel it struck in the Caribbean on September 19 was involved in narco-trafficking, killing four. It did not release the evidence. A U.N. expert and U.S. critics dispute the legal basis for such strikes.
Role at the time: U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism, writing in an individual capacity in a briefing note
Response to this claim
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.
“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.”
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.
Statement dates: September 20, 2026
Statement dates: September 20, 2026
Statement dates: September 20, 2026
Statement dates: September 20, 2026
