Families of Trinidadian men killed in US boat strike demand accountability

The Trump administration has killed at least 239 people in boat strikes that critics denounce as extrajudicial killings.

A man moves his boat through a harbour in the Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, November 4, 2025 [File: Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

The families of two missing men from the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago have marked the one-year anniversary of their disappearance by calling for accountability from the United States.

Since September last year, the US military has undertaken a campaign of attacking small boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, on the basis that they were transporting “narco-terrorists”.

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But critics have called the boat strikes an illegal campaign of extrajudicial killings .

On Wednesday, the families of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo issued a statement remembering the two men, who they said were killed in one of the US boat strikes on October 14, 2025.

The families are currently pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit in the state of Massachusetts, supported by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). They have argued that Joseph and Samaroo were fishermen and farm workers, not drug-traffickers.

“The last year has been devastating without Chad in our lives. Chad was the heart of our family. He was loving, generous and caring and always there for us. We all miss him terribly,” said Joseph’s mother, Lenore Burnley.

“A year later, we are still grieving and seeking justice for his death. We will always mourn losing Chad but hope that this lawsuit will be a step towards justice for him and the family.”

Four other people were killed in the attack on October 14, 2025, when a missile struck a vessel returning to Trinidad and Tobago from nearby Venezuela.

The families have said Samaroo and Joseph had been working in Venezuela to support their families.

Both men called their families two days before embarking on the trip home to the islands. They were never heard from again.

The boat strike campaign, launched under US President Donald Trump, has killed at least 239 people since September 2025.

But the US government has provided little evidence to prove its claims that those on board were trafficking drugs. It has also not publicly identified the victims.

In several cases — from Colombia to Ecuador to Trinidad and Tobago — relatives have stepped forward to say that their loved ones were among those killed, and that they were fishermen with no connection to the drug trade.

Separately, the family of Colombian fisherman Alejandro Carranza has filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, accusing the Trump administration of violating his right to life when it allegedly bombed his boat on September 15, 2025.

Samaroo and Joseph’s lawsuit was filed in January and is being heard by a US federal court in the city of Boston, Massachusetts.

“Not a day goes by when our family doesn’t think about our brother Rishi,” said Sallycar Korasingh, Samaroo’s youngest sister.

“Rishi was a good person, loved by his family and community. The last year without him in our lives has been heartbreaking. My brother and family deserve justice. We will continue fighting for answers and the accountability we deserve.”

Legal scholars have noted that, even if those killed were involved in criminal activity, the strikes would still amount to extrajudicial killings.

Under international law, it is generally illegal to use military force for civilian law enforcement. Drug trafficking is not considered an act of war, but rather a civilian crime.

“For a year now, our clients have had to live without their loved ones and without justice in the name of President Trump’s lawless killing campaign,” said Jeff Stein, staff attorney with ACLU’s National Security Project.

The group is representing the families in their lawsuit, along with the Center for Constitutional Rights.

“These illegal strikes at sea have devastated countless families, terrified communities, and made us all less safe,” Stein said. “We won’t stop fighting for accountability. We urge leaders in both Congress and the executive branch to finally end this illegal campaign before anyone else is killed.”

特朗普政府发动的船只袭击造成至少 239 人死亡，批评人士谴责这些袭击是法外处决。

2025年11月4日，一名男子驾驶他的船穿过特立尼达和多巴哥首都西班牙港的港口。[图片：Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

来自加勒比海国家特立尼达和多巴哥的两名失踪男子的家属，在他们失踪一周年之际，呼吁美国追究责任。

自去年九月以来，美国军方以运送“毒品恐怖分子”为由，在加勒比海和东太平洋开展了一场袭击小型船只的行动。

列表 1/3：特朗普发起“船难”运动一年后，遇难者家属仍在寻求答案

列表 2/3 “戴上手铐，蒙住眼睛”：美国是否以厄瓜多尔渔民为目标？

联合国称，美国对涉嫌贩毒船只的三次袭击中的第三次可能构成“反人类罪”。

但批评人士称，这些船只袭击是一场非法的法外处决运动。

周三，查德·约瑟夫和里希·萨马鲁的家人发表声明，悼念这两位在2025年10月14日美国船只袭击中丧生的男子。

目前，这些家庭正在马萨诸塞州提起非正常死亡诉讼，并得到了美国公民自由联盟（ACLU）的支持。他们辩称，约瑟夫和萨马鲁是渔民和农场工人，而不是毒贩。

“过去一年没有查德陪伴，对我们来说是无比痛苦的。查德是我们家的核心。他充满爱心、慷慨大方、体贴入微，总是陪伴在我们身边。我们都非常想念他，”约瑟夫的母亲莱诺尔·伯恩利说道。

“一年过去了，我们依然沉浸在悲痛之中，并为他的死寻求正义。我们将永远缅怀查德，但希望这场诉讼能为他和他的家人带来正义。”

2025年10月14日，一枚导弹击中一艘从邻近的委内瑞拉返回特立尼达和多巴哥的船只，造成另有四人死亡。

家属们表示，萨马鲁和约瑟夫一直在委内瑞拉工作，以养家糊口。

两人在启程回岛的两天前都给家人打了电话。之后便杳无音信。

自美国总统唐纳德·特朗普发起的“船只袭击”行动以来，自2025年9月以来，已造成至少239人死亡。

但美国政府几乎没有提供任何证据来证明机上人员涉嫌贩毒。此外，它也没有公开遇难者的身份。

从哥伦比亚到厄瓜多尔，再到特立尼达和多巴哥，有好几起案件中，遇难者家属站出来表示，他们的亲人也在遇难者之列，而且他们是渔民，与毒品交易没有任何关系。

另外，哥伦比亚渔民亚历杭德罗·卡兰萨的家人向美洲人权委员会提出申诉，指控特朗普政府在2025年9月15日炸毁他的船只，侵犯了他的生命权。

Samaroo 和 Joseph 的诉讼于 1 月份提起，目前正在马萨诸塞州波士顿市的美国联邦法院审理。

“我们全家每天都在想念我们的哥哥里希，”萨马鲁最小的妹妹萨利卡·科拉辛格说。

“里希是个好人，深受家人和社区的爱戴。过去一年没有他的日子，我们心如刀绞。我的兄弟和家人理应得到公正的对待。我们将继续争取真相和应有的责任。”

法律学者指出，即使被杀者参与了犯罪活动，这些袭击仍然构成法外处决。

根据国际法，使用武力进行民事执法通常是非法的。贩毒不被视为战争行为，而属于民事犯罪。

“一年来，我们的客户不得不忍受失去亲人和得不到正义的痛苦，这一切都是特朗普总统的非法杀戮行动造成的，”美国公民自由联盟国家安全项目的律师杰夫·斯坦说道。

该组织与宪法权利中心一起代表这些家庭提起诉讼。

斯坦因说：“这些非法海上袭击摧毁了无数家庭，令社区人心惶惶，也让我们所有人都感到更加不安全。我们不会停止追究责任的斗争。我们敦促国会和行政部门的领导人尽快结束这场非法行动，以免更多人丧生。”