Advocates push for major probe as US boat strikes in Latin America kill 157

"Our ask will be to conduct a fact-finding investigation into what's going on. The second aim would be to assert or to arrive at a conclusion that there is no armed conflict here, in what would be a rebuke to US President Donald Trump's previous claims. Finally, he hopes the proceedings will yield long-sought transparency from the Trump administration on whether or not they have a legal justification for these boat strikes."

"In September, the United States began launching dozens of deadly military strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific. Nearly half a year later, remarkably little is known about the strikes. The identities of the nearly 157 people killed have not been released. Any purported evidence against them has not been made public."

"The experts set to testify at Friday's hearing said the IACHR has a unique mandate to uncover the truth behind the US strikes. The commission, based in Guatemala City, Guatemala, is an independent investigative body within the Organization of American States, of which the US was a founding member in 1948."

The United States launched dozens of deadly military strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific beginning in September. Nearly 157 people were killed, yet their identities remain unreleased and no evidence against them has been made public. UN and international law experts will testify at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Friday in the first international hearing on these strikes. The hearing aims to conduct a fact-finding investigation, establish that no armed conflict exists contrary to US claims, and demand transparency regarding legal justification for the strikes. The IACHR, an independent investigative body within the Organization of American States, possesses a unique mandate to investigate these operations.

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