The family of a Colombian who died in an American attack on a boat is demanding justice. Relatives insist he was a fisherman and there were no narcotics on board.
The family of a Colombian man who died in September during a US attack on a ship in the Caribbean filed an official complaint against the United States at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). The AFP agency drew attention to it, writes TASR.
Alejandro Carranza Medina (42) died on September 15 during an attack on a ship allegedly transporting drugs. The family of the deceased Colombian rejected claims that any narcotics were on board. Relatives insist that he was a fisherman and was just doing his job at the time of the incident on the open sea.
Accusations against the US
“We know that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is responsible for ordering the bombing of ships like Alejandro Carranza Medina and for murdering all the people on those ships,” the complaint, accessed by AFP on Wednesday, said.
According to the family of the deceased, Hegseth issued the orders “despite not knowing the identity of the persons who were the targets of this bombing and extrajudicial killings”. The complaint says the orders were “ratified” by US President Donald Trump.
The reaction of the family and the president
The deceased Colombian was described by his wife as a “good man” in an interview with AFP in October. According to her, “he had no connections to the drug trade and his daily activity was fishing.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro promised help to the family and called the US attacks “extrajudicial executions”.
Increased military presence
The United States has increased its military presence off the coast of Latin America in recent months as part of the fight against drug smuggling. American attacks on several vessels suspected of this activity have already claimed more than 80 lives in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean.
The US has not yet released evidence that these vessels were used for drug smuggling. According to human rights organizations, the US attacks would be illegal even if they were really drug traffickers.
