April 27 (UPI) — The U.S. military has killed another three men in its latest attack targeting suspected drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific, U.S. Southern Command announced late Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the 54th strike in the Trump administration’s violent anti-drug smuggling campaign that has killed at least 185 people since early September, according to UPI’s tally of publicly released data. At least 57 boats have been destroyed in the attacks in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOUTHCOM has announced each strike on social media, accompanied by a short black-and-white aerial video of the attack, showing the boat erupting in flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As with the previous strikes, SOUTHCOM said in a statement that the boat it attacked Sunday “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump administration claims the vessels are operated by 10 drug cartels and gangs that President Donald Trump has designated as terrorist organizations since returning to office, but has yet to provide evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump argues the use of deadly force is warranted as the United States is in “armed conflict” with those organizations, but his administration has come under mounting accusations of conducting extrajudicial killings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strikes have been repeatedly condemned and their legality questioned by Democrats and human rights organizations, who accuse the Trump administration of violating international and maritime law by using the military to conduct law enforcement drug operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ben Saul, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, chastised the Trump administration last month for “responding with lawless violence that flagrantly violates human rights, in its phony war on so-called narco-terrorism.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attacks are not permissible law enforcement action in self-defense, authorized under the law of the sea, in national self-defense or under international humanitarian law, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, 125 humanitarian, human rights, peacebuilding and other related organizations from around the world called on all states to “immediately cease or refrain from supporting U.S. extrajudicial killings.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter warned that states could be held legally responsible for aiding or assisting the United States by sharing intelligence as well as providing access to military bases and logistical support with the U.S. military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The groups argue that the consequences of these killings are being felt throughout the hemisphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Families awaiting the return of their loved ones may never know what happened to them and have no access to recourse,” the organizations said in their open letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Coastal communities have witnessed human remains washing up on shore and fear for their lives when they trade and fish, sowing psychological trauma and undermining livelihoods.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n