UN News Today 31 October 2025 |

This is UN News Today with me, Conor Lennon. The headlines:

The UN Human Rights Office says deadly US attacks in the Caribbean violate international law,

Iran is seeing an “extraordinary spike in executions” according to a fact-finding mission,

And civilian casualties in Ukraine have shot up by almost a third compared to last year.

US attacks in Caribbean and Pacific violated international law: UN rights office

US airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific – allegedly linked to drug trafficking – violate international human rights law, human rights chief Volker Türk said on Friday.

The attacks by US armed forces, which began in early September, have reportedly killed over 60 people. High Commissioner Türk said that the attacks and their mounting human cost were unacceptable.

He added that the extrajudicial killings must end, whatever the allegations of criminal conduct are.

Here’s Ravina Shamdasani, from the UN human rights office in Geneva, OHCHR.

“Under international human rights law, the intentional use of lethal force is only permissible as a last resort against individuals who pose an imminent threat to life.

Based on the very sparse information provided publicly by the US authorities, none of the individuals on the targeted boats appeared to pose an imminent threat to the lives of others or otherwise justified the use of lethal armed force against them under international law.”

Fact-Finding Mission in Iran alarmed by surge in repression and spike in executions

The Independent UN Fact-Finding Mission investigating alleged rights abuses in Iran says there has been a “surge in repression and extraordinary spike in executions” there.

Briefing at UN Headquarters in New York, the commission’s chairperson, Sara Hossain, told the General Assembly that conditions have deteriorated since Israeli airstrikes in June, which reportedly killed over 1,000 people.

This led to a domestic crackdown which has further eroded respect for the right to life. The Mission documented the arrest of thousands of people, including lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders, and those expressing their views on the conflict on social media.

This year has seen a rise in executions in Iran this year, to the highest recorded level since 2015. Most death penalty cases investigated by the Mission appear to contravene international human rights law.

Civilian casualties in Ukraine up by a third since last year

Civilian casualties of the Russian invasion of Ukraine this year have increased by 30 per cent since 2024.

The toll of deaths and injuries was reported on Friday by Matthias Schmale, the most senior UN official in Ukraine.

Speaking at a press briefing, Mr. Schmale told journalists that all regions of the country are now at risk of hostilities, which are proving devastating for civilians.

Mr. Schmale said that the World Health Organization has recorded 364 attacks impacting healthcare facilities in Ukraine this year so far, including a strike on a hospital in Vinnytsia on Thursday, which killed a seven-year-old girl.

Ukrainians are in the midst of a deepening mental health crisis, said the senior UN official, with up to 10 million people at risk.

And the situation for the civilian population is set to worsen, as winter draws in.

If the Winter is much colder than last year, as is for the moment anticipated, if the energy destruction continues and the rate of recovery does not hold up with the rate of destruction, we are very worried especially about people living in high-rise buildings in cities near the front-line. That could turn into a major crisis. I’m not sure anyone is really prepared for that.

Conor Lennon, UN News.