As a citizen who believes in the rule of law, I am deeply disturbed by reports of U.S. military strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that have killed people without any public evidence, charges, or judicial process.
We are told these killings are part of a “counter-narco-terrorism” campaign. But labeling suspects as enemies in a vague armed conflict does not erase the Constitution, due process, or international law. If these individuals were criminals, they should have been arrested and prosecuted. If they were civilians, they should never have been targeted at all.
Killing people from the air or sea because they are suspected of wrongdoing is not justice. It is punishment without trial. It is execution without a courtroom. It is the definition of extrajudicial killing.
When a government claims the power to kill first and explain later, every citizen should be alarmed. Silence now normalizes a precedent that erodes the legal and moral standards we claim to defend.
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