The family of a Colombian man killed in a United States military strike on an alleged drug smuggling vessel in the Caribbean Sea has filed a complaint with an intergovernmental agency charged with monitoring human rights.
The complaint, reported by the AFP news agency on Wednesday, was submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) a day prior.
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It accuses the US of violating Alejandro Carranza’s rights to life and due process when it bombed a boat on September 15, as part of President Donald Trump’s anti-drug campaign.
Carranza’s family maintains he was on that vessel and was killed in the explosion.
“We know that Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza Medina and the murder of all those on such boats,” the complaint said.
It said Hegseth gave the orders to strike “despite the fact that he did not know the identity of those being targeted for these bombings and extra-judicial killings”.
Carranza’s family has described him as a fisherman and denied that his boat was carrying drugs when it was struck by the US military.
The complaint added that Trump himself “has ratified the conduct of Secretary Hegseth”.
Carranza’s case has become a flashpoint in his native Colombia, galvanising opposition against the US bombing campaign.
More than 83 people have been killed in the 21 known military strikes the US has conducted on alleged drug smuggling vessels since September 2.
Even Colombian President Gustavo Petro has cited the case in public statements denouncing the bombings as extrajudicial killings.
“US government officials have committed murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters,” Petro wrote on October 18.
“The fisherman, Alejandro Carranza, had no ties to drug trafficking; his daily activity was fishing. The Colombian boat was adrift and had its engine out of service. We await an explanation from the US government.”
The family’s complaint comes at a time of heightened scrutiny for the Trump administration and Hegseth in particular.
Rights groups have said the strikes are likely illegal under both domestic and international law, which largely bars attacks on civilians.
Drug trafficking is not considered an act of combat under international law, so self-defence statutes do not apply.
Scrutiny has been heightened in recent days after US media reported on a so-called double-tap strike during the first known bombing on September 2. According to reports, the US military’s initial strike appeared to leave two passengers alive, so a second missile was dropped on the boat.
Legal experts have said firing on unarmed adversaries would likely constitute a war crime. The laws of armed conflict also prohibit firing “upon the shipwrecked”, according to the Pentagon’s own manual.
Trump and Hegseth have since distanced themselves from the attack, saying Navy Vice Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley ordered the follow-up strike. The White House has maintained the order was given “within his authority and the law”.
The administration has also said the strikes will continue. It has justified the attacks as necessary to deter so-called “narco-terrorists” from smuggling drugs to the US.
Petro, the Colombian president, has been a leading critic of the strikes and pledged to support Carranza’s family as it seeks justice.
In an interview with the AFP in October, Carranza’s widow, Katerine Hernandez, described her husband as a “good man”.
“He had no ties to drug trafficking, and his daily activity was fishing,” she said.
The complaint comes as the US surges military assets to the Caribbean and Trump threatens possible land strikes on Venezuela.
Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro has said Trump is using the pretext of drug trafficking to seek regime change in Caracas.
The IACHR, a panel within the Organization of the American States (OAS), regularly reviews human rights complaints and recommends cases to be taken up by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.