Second Strike? All of the US Strikes in the Caribbean Are Illegal, Legal Experts Say

Written by: Naomi Lachance at Zeteo

More than 80 people have been killed in the Trump administration’s strikes on supposed drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean since September, marking a brazen and unprecedented departure from previous American use of force. While Congress has been focused on the double-tap strike in which the United States killed two shipwrecked men who survived a first strike, experts and advocacy groups agree that all of the strikes are illegal under both US law and international human rights law. “I’ve never seen as much unanimity among international law experts in opposition to US policy as I’ve seen to this,” Geoffrey Corn, professor of law at Texas Tech University School of Law, tells Zeteo, describing a “crescendo of condemnation.” So, how is Trump trying to justify the strikes? What do US and international human rights laws say? And how are the strikes different from drone strikes conducted by previous administrations?