Colombian family files first known formal complaint over deadly US strike in Caribbean

By Mauricio Torres, Michael Rios, CNN

(CNN) — The family of a Colombian man believed to have been killed in a US strike in the Caribbean has filed what’s believed to be the first complaint against such attacks with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

The petition, filed Tuesday by US human rights attorney Dan Kovalik, alleges that Colombian fisherman Alejandro Carranza was killed when the US struck his boat off the coast of Colombia on September 15.

It claims that the United States carried out an extra-judicial killing in violation of Carranza’s human rights. Kovalik told CNN they are seeking compensation for his family and an end to such killings, but did not elaborate on how those demands would be met.

“These killings are against international law. They are against US law. We want this to stop, and we think this is at least a first step to having that happen,” he said.

The complaint names US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as the perpetrator, saying he “was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza Medina and the murder of all those on such boats.” It also claims that Hegseth’s conduct was “ratified” by US President Donald Trump.

The Pentagon referred questions to the White House and CNN has reached out to the White House.

Since early September, the US has carried out at least 22 strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing at least 83 people.

The US has tried to legally justify its strikes by claiming the boats were carrying individuals linked to roughly two dozen drug cartels engaged in an armed conflict with the US. The White House has said repeatedly that the administration’s actions “comply fully with the Law of Armed Conflict,” the area of international law that is designed to prevent attacks on civilians.

Trump claimed the strike on September 15 had killed three “narcoterrorists from Venezuela” transporting drugs to the United States.

But Kovalik says Carranza, a Colombian citizen, was simply fishing for marlin and tuna when he was killed in the strike. “That is what he was doing. That was his profession and his vocation.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro previously said that Carranza was a lifelong fisherman with no ties to the drug trade, and that his boat was displaying a distress signal because of engine damage. Petro later conceded that Carranza may have accepted money to carry prohibited goods due to his financial situation but said “never did his actions deserve the death penalty.”

Petro announced on Monday that Kovalik had launched a “judicial defense” for Carranza’s family and said his country must convene a commission of Colombian lawyers to investigate what he considered “crimes” in the Caribbean.

Kovalik said the petition he filed Tuesday on behalf of Carranza’s wife and kids is the first formal complaint against the US strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific and that he believes more will follow.

“That’s a goal. That’s one of our goals. We’re going to bring justice to these people,” he told CNN.

The IACHR says on its website that petitions filed before the commission allow victims of human rights violations to obtain help. If petitions are accepted, the IACHR says, it will make recommendations to the country responsible for the violations “to prevent a recurrence of similar events, to investigate the facts, and to make reparations.”

CNN has reached out to the IACHR, Carranza’s family and the Colombian government for more information.

The petition was filed on the same day that the IACHR issued a statement expressing concern about the US strikes.

The commission urges the United States “to ensure that all security operations, including those carried out beyond its borders, are consistent with international human rights obligations, particularly regarding the protection of the right to life, the use of force, due process guarantees, and accountability mechanisms,” the statement read.

Kovalik was also hired to represent Petro on October 24, the day he was sanctioned by the US, which accused him of playing a “role in the global illicit drug trade.” Petro has denied the allegations.

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CNN’s Fernando Ramos contributed to this report.