Prominent human rights organisations and advocates are set to launch a major investigation into the Trump administration over the killing of 157 people in US military strikes on civilian boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific since September 2025, which were justified as targeting drug cartel members.
The United States military has carried out deadly missile strikes on vessels it believed were carrying drugs, but rights groups say very little is known about the operations or the identities of those killed, let alone any proven connection to drug cartels or syndicates.
Activists and international law experts will testify at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on Friday, in what is expected to be the first formal hearing of its kind since the strikes began last year.
Rights groups argue the inquiry is essential to establish accountability for those responsible.
Steven Watt, senior staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) human rights programme, outlined the hearing’s threefold objective —
- To request the establishment of a specialist fact-finding team to determine what is happening at sea.
- To assert that no armed conflict exists in the region—a direct rebuke to claims made by President Donald Trump and his administration.
- To demand long-sought transparency from the Trump administration on whether it has any legal justification for the boat strikes.
“We don’t think there are any,” Watt added.
President Trump, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Vice President JD Vance have repeatedly faced questions from the press about the role of the US Navy in Latin American waters beyond seeking regime change in hostile countries.
The strikes have drawn sharp criticism for their lack of transparency, civilian toll, and questionable legal basis under international humanitarian law.
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