Above photo: United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk in Geneva, Switzerland. Martial Trezzini/EFE/File photo.
Venezuela Hails Long-Awaited Statement.
On Friday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued the first clear United Nations (UN) condemnation of US military strikes against small boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, calling them unacceptable and demanding they stop.
“These attacks, and their mounting human cost, are unacceptable,” Turk said. “The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them.”
“Over 60 people have reportedly been killed in a continuing series of attacks carried out by US armed forces against boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific since early September, in circumstances that find no justification in international law,” he stated.
Airstrikes by the USA on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, allegedly linked to drug trafficking, violate international human rights law and are unacceptable.
— Volker Türk (@volker_turk) October 31, 2025
According to the information provided by the US government, the attacks have taken place since September against small boats allegedly attempting to transport drugs to US territory. Dozens have been left dead. So far, the US government has not publicly presented any evidence to support the accusations against those killed in the strikes.
Speaking on Türk’s behalf at a UN briefing, spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said he believes Washington’s conduct violates international human rights law and called for “prompt, independent, and transparent investigations.”
Shamdasani noted the US arguments defending the controversial actions but said countries have long agreed that the fight against illicit drug trafficking is a law-enforcement matter, governed by “careful limits” on the use of lethal force.
Intentional use of lethal force is allowed only as a last resort against someone posing “an imminent threat to life,” she said. “Otherwise, it would amount to a violation of the right of life and constitute extrajudicial killings.”
Also on Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric was pushed to say that the top UN official “believes” US military attacks violate international law.
“He does,” Dujarric responded when asked whether Guterres agreed with Türk, who had previously condemned the US attacks as a violation of international humanitarian law. Guterres is seen by many experts as one of the UN chiefs who is most submissive to the US empire.
Venezuela’s response
On Friday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil expressed his gratitude to Türk for “finally condemning the US military attacks in the Caribbean.”
Gil noted that the assassinations have already claimed the lives of 60 people. “Venezuela welcomes the fact that this platform has assumed the responsibility of repudiating these belligerent escalations and unjustified aggression, labeled as extrajudicial executions and a violation of international law by UN experts.”
Gil also reported that “Venezuela will begin by urging the entire United Nations system to use all the capabilities that the peoples of the world have entrusted to it to defend the peace and sovereignty of all nations, especially in relation to the Zone of Peace declared by CELAC in 2014 for Latin America and the Caribbean region.”
Below is a chart with the known information about the US extrajudicial killings:
