An intergovernmental organization tasked with monitoring human rights has lodged a complaint against a Colombian man who was killed in a US military attack on a alleged drug smuggler in the Caribbean Sea.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) received the complaint a day prior, according to the AFP news agency on Wednesday.
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When President Donald Trump bombed a boat on September 15th, it claimed that the US violated Alejandro Carranza’s right to life and the rule of law.
Carranza’s family claims that he was killed by the explosion while aboard that ship.
The complaint claimed that “we know that Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, was in charge of the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza Medina and the murder of all those on them.”
Hegseth, according to the report, gave the order to strike “despite the fact that he had no idea who the targets of these bombings and extrajudicial killings were.”
Carranza’s family has said he is a fisherman, but Carranza’s family denies that the US military struck his boat with drugs.
Trump himself “has ratified Secretary Hegseth’s conduct,” according to the complaint.
Carranza’s case has sparked a wave of opposition to the US bombing campaign in his native Colombia.
Since September 2, there have been 21 known military strikes the US has carried out on alleged drug smuggling vessels, totaling over 83 fatalities.
Even Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, has cited the case in official statements to denounce the bombings as extrajudicial killings.
On October 18, Petro wrote that “US government officials have murdered and violated our territorial waters.”
“The fisherman, Alejandro Carranza, did not have any ties to drug trafficking; he only went fishing every day.” The Colombian boat’s engine was inoperable, and it was adrift. The US government is still waiting for an explanation.
The Trump administration and Hegseth in particular are under increased scrutiny as a result of the family’s complaint.
According to rights groups, strikes are likely prohibited by both domestic and international law, which largely forbids attacks on civilians.
Self-defence laws do not apply because drug trafficking is not regarded as a form of combat under international law.
Following a so-called double-tap strike during the first known bombing on September 2, US media has reported on a heightened level of scrutiny in recent days. A second missile was dropped on the boat in response to reports that the US military’s initial attack appeared to leave two passengers alive.
According to legal experts, hitting on unarmed adversaries is likely to be a war crime. According to the Pentagon’s own manual, firing “upon the shipwreckd” is also prohibited by the laws of armed conflict.
Trump and Hegseth have since said the follow-up strike was ordered by Navy Vice Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, but they have since distanced themselves from the attack. According to the White House, the order was “given within his authority and the law.”
The administration has also stated that the strikes will continue. It has argued that the attacks are necessary to stop ‘narco-terrorists’ from importing drugs into the US.
The president of Colombia, Petro, has been a vocal critic of the strikes and has pledged to support Carranza’s family’s fight for justice.
Katerine Hernandez, Carranza’s widow, described her husband as a “good man” in an interview with the AFP in October.
She claimed that “he had no ties to drug trafficking, and his only daily pastime was fishing.”
Trump threatens possible land attacks on Venezuela as the US militaries its forces in the Caribbean increase.
Nicolas Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, claims that Trump is trying to change the Caracasi regime under the pretext of drug trafficking.
Source: Aljazeera
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