In brief
The families of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, who died in a US strike on an alleged drug boat off Venezuela on October 14, have filed a lawsuit in Boston. They are contesting the legality of the strike, arguing the men were not participating in hostilities and that the US government acted unlawfully.
Families of two Trinidadian men killed in a US airstrike, targeting an alleged drug-smuggling boat, have filed a lawsuit against the US government. The lawsuit, submitted in Boston's federal court, comes on behalf of the relatives of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, who were among six men killed off Venezuela's coast on October 14.The family's legal representatives argue the strike, carried out during US operations targeting 'narco-terrorists,' constituted unlawful killings. The attack, considered part of the US's broader military strategy in the region, has resulted in more than 120 fatalities since September. Legal experts caution that the operations may contravene international laws regarding armed conflicts.This lawsuit, invoking the Death on the High Seas Act, allows foreign relatives to sue in US courts over wrongful deaths at sea, targeting practices the plaintiffs describe as 'lawless.' Joseph's mother emphasized that if her son was suspected of wrongdoing, the appropriate action would have been arrest and legal proceedings, rather than fatal force.The Pentagon has yet to respond to this lawsuit, which echoes a recent case involving a Colombian man's death linked to a similar US military operation.
