Family of Colombian killed in US narcotics strike files human rights complaint, says he was just fishing

BOGOTA, Dec 4 — The family of a Colombian man killed in a US military strike on his fishing boat in the Caribbean has filed a complaint against the United States with a Washington-based human rights body.

The relatives of 42-year-old Alejandro Carranza Medina — who was killed on September 15 — dispute US claims that the vessel was carrying drugs as part of Washington’s anti-narcotics operations. They insist he was simply a fisherman working at sea.

Carranza is among more than 80 people who have died in recent weeks in US strikes across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, targeting boats Washington alleges — without presenting evidence — were involved in drug trafficking. Families of victims and several governments maintain some of the dead were fishermen, while rights groups argue the strikes are illegal even if the targets were traffickers.

“We know that Pete Hegseth, the US Secretary of Defense, ordered the bombing of vessels like the one belonging to Alejandro Carranza Medina and the killing of everyone on board,” the family said in the complaint, seen by AFP on Wednesday.

They say the United States violated several of Carranza’s fundamental rights, including his right to life and due process. The complaint, submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), alleges that Hegseth issued strike orders “despite not knowing the identities of those being targeted.”

It further claims that US President Donald Trump “has endorsed Secretary Hegseth’s actions.”

Despite mounting criticism, the Pentagon chief said Tuesday that the United States had “only just begun striking narco boats and putting narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean.” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson insisted the operations “comply with both US and international law, in accordance with the law of armed conflict.”

The IACHR, a body under the Organization of American States, is tasked with promoting and safeguarding human rights in the region.

In an interview with AFP in October, Carranza’s widow, Katerine Hernandez, described him as a “good man” and said he had no involvement in drug trafficking. He leaves behind four children.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has condemned the US strikes as “extrajudicial executions” and pledged support for Carranza’s family in their pursuit of justice.

The Trump administration has deployed the world’s largest aircraft carrier along with other military assets to the Caribbean, claiming the mission is part of counter-narcotics operations. It asserts it is effectively at war with so-called “narco-terrorists,” launching strikes beginning in early September.

The operations have heightened regional tensions, with Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro accusing Washington of using drug interdiction as a cover for attempts to topple his government. Relations between Bogota and Washington have also deteriorated.

Petro has been outspoken in his criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of migrants and its boat strike campaign, drawing US sanctions and accusations of involvement in drug trafficking. While Trump removed Colombia from a list of allies in the anti-narcotics fight, the country has so far avoided harsher penalties — potentially as Washington awaits a possible right-wing return to power in Colombia’s 2026 elections. — AFP