(Washington, DC, September 18, 2025) - United States military strikes against two boats allegedly carrying drug traffickers, which the Trump administration said killed at least 14 people, were unlawful extrajudicial killings, Human Rights Watch said today. "US officials cannot summarily kill people they accuse of smuggling drugs," said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. The US military's use of lethal force against suspected drug traffickers in these two strikes violated international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said. The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, in a joint statement with two other UN human rights experts, has condemned both strikes as extrajudicial executions. Source: Human Rights Watch