Congress Must Investigate Possible Crimes In Carribean Boat Strikes by Military

CONGRESS MUST HOLD IMMEDIATE HEARINGS INTO POSSIBLE MURDER OR WAR CRIMES BY U.S. FORCES As your constituent I urge you to immediately hold investigative hearings into U.S. military boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that, based on credible reporting, may constitute murder or war crimes. According to public reporting and legal analyses, these operations began in early September 2025 and have continued through March 2026, including strikes reported as recently as this month. Over that period, more than 40 vessels have been targeted and approximately 150 or more people may have been killed. These reports include incidents in which individuals in the water, including those clinging to wreckage after an initial strike, were reportedly targeted again. The use of bombing or other lethal force against vessels - rather than attempting interdiction, capture, or arrest - raises a serious risk of unlawful killing. This question alone warrants Congressional investigation. If these operations occurred outside a lawful armed conflict, the deliberate use of lethal force in place of law enforcement measures would constitute unlawful killing if confirmed. If individuals were intentionally struck after they were wounded, shipwrecked, or otherwise incapacitated, those actions would not be lawful uses of force - they would be unlawful killings. KILLING SURVIVORS OR USING UNNECESSARY LETHAL FORCE WOULD VIOLATE CLEAR LAW The International Committee of the Red Cross has made clear that individuals who are hors de combat - including the wounded and shipwrecked - are protected from attack under the Geneva Conventions. Legal experts, including those cited in reporting by PBS NewsHour, have stated that intentionally targeting such individuals would constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law. Outside a lawful armed conflict, U.S. law requires that force be necessary and proportionate, with capture preferred where feasible. The use of lethal force where interdiction or arrest was possible may therefore constitute unlawful killing. Where armed conflict exists, such conduct may constitute a war crime under the War Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. § 2441). Where it does not, it may constitute murder under U.S. law. Either conclusion would represent serious criminal conduct requiring accountability. CONGRESS MUST DETERMINE WHO AUTHORIZED THESE ACTIONS AND WHETHER LESSER FORCE WAS FEASIBLE Public reporting, including accounts in The Washington Post, indicates that these operations may have been justified under a theory that counterdrug missions constitute armed conflict. Experts warn that this risks collapsing the distinction between war and law enforcement. Congress must determine who authorized these strikes, what legal framework was applied, and whether non-lethal alternatives - including interdiction and arrest - were feasible but not pursued. These actions were carried out using taxpayer-funded military resources, and Congress must ensure that such authority is exercised within clear legal limits. If wartime authorities were applied where no lawful armed conflict exists, then the use of lethal force may have been unlawful from the outset. CONGRESS MUST ESTABLISH THE FACTS AND REFER ANY VIOLATIONS FOR INVESTIGATION These allegations require rigorous oversight. Congress should: (1) hold public and classified hearings through relevant committees; (2) subpoena legal memoranda, targeting criteria, strike footage, communications, and after-action reports; (3) require sworn testimony from commanders, Defense officials, and military legal advisors; (4) determine whether any individuals authorized, ordered, or carried out actions that require referral for independent criminal investigation; (5) publicly release findings to the American people. FAILURE TO ACT WOULD SIGNAL THAT UNLAWFUL KILLING WILL GO UNCHECKED If Congress fails to act on credible evidence that individuals may have been killed after they were no longer a threat, it sets a precedent that such conduct will go unchecked. Failure to act also risks exposing U.S. service members to legal and moral hazard by leaving unclear or unlawful orders unexamined. The Constitution requires oversight, accountability, and clear legal limits on executive power. These allegations demand that Congress act now. Thank you.