Amnesty International is calling on the Congress and global leaders to halt what it describes as an "unconscionable campaign of extrajudicial killings at sea" carried out by the U.S. military.
“These extrajudicial killings are becoming normalized,” said Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA’s National Director for Government Relations, in a statement re-issued over the weekend following more U.S. attacks at sea. “Not only are these killings illegal, they are immoral. People of good conscience cannot allow this to continue, yet Congress has so far failed to halt, or even slow down, this lethal and unlawful campaign.”
The U.S. military said it carried out another strike Saturday on a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three men in the fourth attack lastt week and putting the total death toll at 205.
READ MORE: U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats have done little to stop the flow of illegal drugs
U.S. Southern Command announced the strike with its usual language that the vessel was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations” and operated by a designated terrorist organization. It provided no evidence for the allegation.
It’s the latest in a monthslong campaign against alleged drug boats traversing the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific.
The military campaign began on September 2, 2025, with a strike on a boat in the Caribbean that killed at least 11 people. Operations have since expanded, averaging six strikes per month. October 2025 marked the deadliest period, with 45 people killed across 11 strikes.
Amnesty International said that the violence has persisted into this year, with over 70 fatalities recorded, including at least nine within the last month.
“Numbers alone cannot capture the unimaginable human toll of this horrific campaign of murder at sea,” Klasing stated. “Every single person that the U.S. has killed at sea was arbitrarily deprived of their right to life, and they and their families have a right to justice.”
The White House has defended the operations by claiming the targets are drug traffickers or "narco-terrorists."
However, Amnesty International said the Trump administration has not provided evidence or identified the victims, adding that the U.S. is not engaged in an official armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere.
During congressional hearings, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed scrutiny regarding the legality of the operations as “false accusations.”
The human rights group argues that, if the targets were suspected criminals, they should be handled through law enforcement channels rather than military force.
“We are witnessing the height of lawlessness — a government taking military action to kill people who it unilaterally deems ‘criminals’ or ‘terrorists’ and then bragging about it on social media and stonewalling members of Congress demanding explanations,” Klasing said.
Daniel Noroña, Amnesty International USA’s Advocacy Director for the Americas, urged lawmakers to step in.
“We call on Congress to urgently utilize all legislative and oversight mechanisms available to stop these air strikes and stop enabling and promoting the militarization of public security in the Americas,” Noroña said.
Amnesty International is also urging the Organization of American States and regional governments to intervene by suspending intelligence sharing and halting defense exports that could support the ongoing operations.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
