Survivors of airstrike on alleged drug boat in Caribbean held on US navy ship, officials say | US military
The United States has captured survivors of a military attack on a ship suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean for the first time since Donald Trump launched deadly attacks in the region last month, according to officials in Washington.
Thursday’s attack is believed to be at least the sixth attack in waters off Venezuela since early September and the first in which survivors were rescued by the US military. It was not immediately clear what would be done with the survivors, who authorities said were being held aboard a U.S. Navy ship.
They confirmed the attack on condition of anonymity because it has not yet been publicly disclosed by the Trump administration.
This attack on Thursday brought the death toll in the US military operation against ships in the region to at least 28.
Trump justified the attacks by arguing that the United States was engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, relying on the same legal authority that the Bush administration used to declare a “war on terror” after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. This includes the ability to capture and detain fighters and use lethal force to overthrow their leaders.
Legal experts say the president’s use of overwhelming military force to fight the cartels, as well as his authorization of covert action inside Venezuela to possibly oust the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, stretches the limits of international law.
Survivors of this strike now face an uncertain future and legal landscape; These include whether they will now be considered prisoners of war or defendants in a criminal case. The White House did not comment on the strike.
Human Rights Watch America Director Juanita Goebertus Estrada said the attacks violated international human rights law and amounted to extrajudicial execution.
“The United States is not engaged in an armed conflict with Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, or the criminal groups allegedly involved. Under human rights law standards, law enforcement officials must seek to minimize injuries and protect human life. They may use lethal force only when absolutely unavoidable to protect against an imminent threat of death or serious injury.”
“In separate recent attacks in the Caribbean, U.S. officials made no effort to minimize damage and did not attempt to demonstrate that individuals on board posed any imminent threat to life,” he said.
The attacks come as Trump escalates tensions with the Venezuelan government, against the backdrop of a US military buildup in the Caribbean that includes guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and about 6,500 troops.
On Wednesday, Trump announced that he had authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela, fueling speculation in Caracas that the United States was trying to oust Maduro.
The strikes in the Caribbean caused unease among Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, with some Republicans saying they were not getting enough information about how the strikes were being conducted. A confidential briefing given to senators before the Senate armed services committee earlier this month did not include representatives from the military command structure or intelligence agencies of countries in South and Central America.
But most Senate Republicans stood behind the administration last week when it came up for a vote on a war powers resolution that would require the administration to get approval from Congress before launching further strikes.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed reporting
