A combination image shows two screen captures from a footage posted on the X account of The White House on September 15, 2025, of what US President Donald Trump said was a military strike on a Venezuelan drug cartel vessel, the second such strike carried out against an alleged drug boat in recent weeks.
(Washington, DC, September 2, 2026) – Today marks one year since the United States began an unlawful campaign of lethal military strikes targeting vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, claiming 227 lives. US officials should be urgently held to account for these killings, Human Rights Watch said today.
Under President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the US military has conducted 69 unlawful strikes since September 2, 2025, under a broader military campaign that the administration claims seeks to curtail drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. But killing people at sea without trial, regardless of their alleged involvement in criminal activity, is a violation of international law.
“The Trump administration has summarily killed more than 200 people over the course of the past year, bragging about these killings online and facing no accountability,” said Ida Sawyer, crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch. “The victims and their loved ones deserve a full accounting of these operations, and justice for the grave harm they have suffered.”
The two most recent attacks killed two people on August 23, 2026, and another four on August 25. The killings dashed brief hopes that the abusive campaign had come to an end after the administration did not report any strikes in July.
Instead, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced a new joint task force on August 4 to coordinate military action with 18 partner countries across the Americas, suggesting intentions to expand operations in the region. In a news release a
