Document file · International legal record

The record on United States strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific

United Nations Human Rights Council · Legislators of the Americas · CARICOM Heads of Government

A compiled record of the principal public documents on the United States campaign of lethal strikes against vessels alleged to be carrying narcotics, which began on 2 September 2025. It brings together the United Nations Special Rapporteur's legal assessment, the joint statement of legislators from thirteen countries, and the positions taken by Caribbean governments.

Document of record · Joint statement, 22 September 2026

Compiled 23 September 2026

Key extracts & findings

Record 1

UN Special Rapporteur: serial extrajudicial killings

In a briefing note published for the United Nations Human Rights Council on 22 September 2026, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, Ben Saul, concluded that the strikes amount to serial extrajudicial killings in violation of the right to life, and are not justified by self-defence, international humanitarian law, the law of the sea, the narcotics conventions or counter-terrorism law. He raised the possibility that they could constitute crimes against humanity.

Record 2

At least 234 killed in more than 68 strikes

A joint statement issued on 22 September 2026 by more than seventy legislators from thirteen countries records at least 234 people killed in over 68 strikes since 2 September 2025, describes them as extrajudicial killings, and notes the United States government's own assessment that the strikes have not reduced the flow of cocaine.

Record 3

The first strike, 2 September 2025

The first reported lethal strike on an alleged drug vessel departing Venezuela was announced on 2 September 2025, with eleven people reported killed.

Record 4

Trinidad and Tobago's stated position

On 2 September 2025 the Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, welcomed the United States naval deployment and its stated mission. On 1 September 2025 she said there was no evidence of a planned attack on Venezuela and that the government would not be engaging CARICOM on the issue.

Record 5

CARICOM: an unanswered request and a missing persons case

CARICOM Foreign Ministers wrote to the United States Secretary of State in late 2025 seeking an assurance that there would be no military action against Venezuela without prior consultation and warning. At the 51st Heads of Government meeting in Saint Lucia on 9 July 2026, the CARICOM Chair, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, confirmed that no information had been provided on the deaths of two Saint Lucian nationals, Ricky Joseph and Nafi Williams, in a strike on 13 February 2026, and that the matter stood as a missing persons case.

Extracts are summarised from the document of record, which is linked above. Where a passage is disputed, this newsroom will publish the correction alongside the extract.