USA/Karibik. Killing Spree: Extrajudicial executions in the U.S. boat strikes campaign
USA/Karibik. Killing Spree: Extrajudicial executions in the U.S. boat strikes campaign
Executive Summary
Since September 2, 2025, top U.S. officials have posted 63 videos to social media, showing the moments when 221 people’s lives ended as the small boats on which they were traveling exploded, torn apart by bombs and missiles fired by the U.S. armed forces in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
After nearly 11 months, the Trump administration’s new video postings barely register in U.S. and regional news. Each attack is so similar to those that came before it that there is little “news handle” to grab onto. The boat strikes are blending into the background, buried under layers of newer crises distracting public opinion. After initial shock and outrage, the consequences of these illegal, lethal operations are becoming normalized.
This report explains why the U.S. government’s boat strikes are not normal and must never become so. They are murder under domestic law and extrajudicial killings under international human rights law. They are the result of the executive branch’s reckless use of the “terrorist” label to enable employing the U.S. military to target civilians. Their deaths come with no presentation of any evidence of wrongdoing, much less any due process for those being attacked. They must stop now, and those who have ordered and carried them out must be held accountable in all available venues. (WOLA – Washington Office of Latin America, 24.07.2026)