HRW says US likely had role in attacks on fishing boats off Ecuador

Human Rights Watch said the United States likely played a role in attacks on three fishing vessels off Ecuador's coast earlier this year that left at least eight people missing.

The group said the alleged attacks took place between January and March, during a period when the US military increased strikes against boats it says are carrying drugs near Latin America. Human Rights Watch said at least 215 people have been killed in those strikes. Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have condemned the strikes as extrajudicial killings, saying they apparently targeted civilians who did not pose an immediate threat to the United States.

In an investigative report, Human Rights Watch said the fishing vessels La Negra Francisca Duarte II and Don Maca came under attack in the Eastern Pacific between January and March. It said a third vessel, the Fiorella, disappeared on January 20 with eight crew members.

Human Rights Watch said the US Department of Defense and the Coast Guard denied responsibility for the attacks. The group said its investigation, based on interviews with 62 people including 13 survivors, concluded that the United States had some level of involvement in, or knowledge of, the attacks.

The report said crew members of La Negra Francisca Duarte II and Don Maca said they were attacked by armed drones on March 17 and March 26, respectively. Survivors said armed US nationals wearing military-style uniforms with US flag insignias detained them aboard a nearby blue-and-white vessel and then transferred them to the Salvadoran Coast Guard.

Human Rights Watch also condemned US-Ecuador joint military action against criminal drug trafficking, alleging torture and arbitrary detentions. The group called on the US Congress to demand clear answers from the Trump administration about US security cooperation with Ecuador.