Tag

#use of force

The use or threat of military force, including violations of the UN Charter's prohibition on force (Article 2(4)), unauthorized military operations, and excessive force by law enforcement against civilians.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Camp East Montana: Beatings, Medical Neglect and Deaths at the ICE Tent Camp on Fort Bliss

Human Rights Watch and the ACLU documented beatings, medical neglect and coercive deportations at Camp East Montana, the ICE tent camp on Fort Bliss and the largest US immigration detention facility. Three men died there within weeks, one in a death ruled a homicide. ICE's own inspection found unreported uses of force. DHS denies all of it.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

ICE Agent Kills Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine; Trump Overrides Pause on ICE Traffic Stops

An immigration agent shot dead a young Colombian father who was not the target of an ICE stop in Maine. It was the second fatal ICE traffic-stop shooting in a week. ICE paused most vehicle stops; Trump reversed the pause within a day, saying ICE could not give up 'THE TRAFFIC STOP!'

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

ICE Officer Fatally Shoots Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Construction Worker Who Was Not the Target, in Houston

An ICE officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker with no criminal record, during a Houston vehicle stop in which he was not the person ICE was looking for. DHS claims self-defense; no officer wore a body camera. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and a county grand jury is investigating.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

ICE Officer Christian Castro Indicted for Lying About Shooting Venezuelan Man Through a Closed Door in Minneapolis

An ICE officer shot a Venezuelan man through a closed door during the Minneapolis enforcement surge, then claimed he had been beaten with a shovel. The victims were charged, but those charges were dropped when video contradicted him. The officer now faces state assault charges and a six-count federal indictment for lying to the FBI. A federal prosecutor who reportedly said DOJ blocked a civil rights charge was fired.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

ICE Agent Kills Renee Good, American Mother of Three, in Minneapolis

An ICE agent shot and killed an American woman during an immigration raid in Minneapolis. Video evidence contradicted the government's claim of self-defense. The administration used the killing to threaten the Insurrection Act and escalate immigration enforcement.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Border Patrol Agent Shoots US Citizen Marimar Martinez in Chicago; Prosecution Collapses as Evidence Contradicts DHS

A Border Patrol agent shot an American woman five times in Chicago. DHS called her a domestic terrorist and prosecutors charged her with assault, but video contradicted the government's account and the charges were dropped. The agent's texts boasted about the shooting and claimed support from senior officials.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

ICE Agent Kills Silverio Villegas González in Franklin Park, Illinois; Body Camera Undercuts DHS Account

An ICE agent shot a Mexican father of two in the back of the neck during a traffic encounter near Chicago. DHS said the agent was seriously injured and dragged; body-camera footage has the agent describing his injuries as 'nothing major.' Illinois police opened an investigation eight months later.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Operation Midnight Hammer: US Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Sites Without Congressional or UN Authorisation (June 2025)

The US bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 without asking Congress or the UN Security Council. A leading international law scholar, writing for the Lieber Institute at West Point, concluded the strikes do not qualify as self-defence. The operation was the first direct US use of force against Iran in this period and preceded the 2026 war.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

April 2018 Strikes on Syrian Chemical-Weapons Facilities Without UN or Congressional Authorisation

Trump ordered a second round of missile strikes on the Syrian government, this time with Britain and France, after a chemical attack in Douma. The strikes had no Security Council mandate and no congressional authorisation. The legal opinion written to justify them widened the President's claimed power to use force on his own.