UN Warns of “Shoot-to-Kill” Drift as US Lethal Force Expands Across Borders and at Home

The Special Rapporteur expressed particular concern over US strikes against small vessels in international waters under the banner of a “war on narco-terrorism.”

The United States’ growing reliance on lethal force—enabled by advanced maritime, military, and law-enforcement technologies—is triggering urgent alarm at the United Nations, as a top human rights expert warns that a “shoot-to-kill” posture risks normalising unlawful killings both abroad and domestically.

Morris Tidball-Binz, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said today that recent US operations on the high seas, in Venezuela, and during domestic immigration enforcement point to a dangerous erosion of the legal and ethical limits governing the use of lethal force.

“There are no exceptions to the absolute and universal prohibition of the arbitrary deprivation of life,” Tidball-Binz said, warning that public signals endorsing lethal force lower the threshold for killing in tech-mediated operations where alternatives may exist.

Lethal Force in the Age of Advanced Surveillance and Strike Capabilities

The Special Rapporteur expressed particular concern over US strikes against small vessels in international waters under the banner of a “war on narco-terrorism.” According to UN findings, scores of people have been killed since September in operations where vessels may have been intercepted rather than destroyed—raising red flags about how real-time intelligence, targeting systems, and remote strike technologies are being deployed without sufficient safeguards.

Reports of “double-tap” strikes—where survivors are killed in follow-up attacks—underscore what the expert described as a failure to apply the core principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, and precaution, which must govern any use of force outside active armed conflict.

“International law does not allow States to kill based on labels, appearances, or allegations,” Tidball-Binz said. “Whether at sea, abroad, or at home, lethal force may be used only as a last resort to protect life.”

Venezuela Operation Raises Aggression and Accountability Concerns

The UN expert also condemned the large-scale US military action in Venezuela in early January, which resulted in numerous deaths. UN experts have stressed that the unprovoked use of armed force on another State’s territory violates Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and may amount to the international crime of aggression.

“Deaths resulting from such an act are arbitrary by definition,” Tidball-Binz warned, adding that accountability for human rights violations cannot be pursued through unilateral military action—regardless of technological superiority.

Domestic Enforcement and the Failure of Oversight Systems

Concerns are not limited to foreign operations. Tidball-Binz highlighted the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis on 7 January 2026 during a federal immigration enforcement operation, stressing that any death involving law enforcement—particularly in operations supported by federal intelligence, databases, and tactical equipment—must trigger an independent, transparent investigation.

He urged US authorities to ensure compliance with the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms and the Minnesota Protocol, which sets global standards for investigating potentially unlawful deaths.

A Wake-Up Call for Civic Tech, Oversight Platforms, and Policy Innovators

Beyond condemnation, the Special Rapporteur’s message lands squarely in the terrain of technology and governance: lethal force today is inseparable from digital surveillance, maritime tracking systems, drones, data fusion platforms, and automated decision-support tools.

Tidball-Binz called on the United States to urgently review:

• Laws and rules of engagement governing tech-enabled lethal force

• Legal bases for maritime and extraterritorial operations

• Oversight, auditability, and accountability mechanisms

• Transparency around targeting, interception, and post-incident review systems

“The right to life is non-derogable and non-negotiable,” he said. “States must never normalise a ‘shoot-to-kill’ approach that technology can quietly accelerate.”

Call to Action: Build Guardrails Before the Damage Is Irreversible

For technologists, defense-sector innovators, data scientists, and civic-tech builders, the warning is clear: systems that enable force without enforceable human-rights constraints risk becoming instruments of unlawful killing.

UN experts are calling for early adoption of accountability-by-design approaches—including transparent audit logs, human-in-the-loop safeguards, independent oversight tools, and post-incident data access for investigators—before lethal technologies further outpace the law.

The Special Rapporteur has formally offered to engage with the US Government and relevant stakeholders to address these concerns.

As global attention sharpens on how technology reshapes state power, the UN’s message is unmistakable: innovation without accountability can cost lives.