Family of Colombian killed in boat strike takes US to rights body
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Mrs Carmela Medina and Mr Alejandro Carranza, parents of Mr Alejandro Carranza Medina, at their house in Santa Marta, Colombia, in October 2025.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
- Family of Alejandro Carranza Medina files complaint with IACHR against the US over his death in a military strike, denying drug trafficking allegations.
- The complaint accuses Pete Hegseth, then US Secretary of Defence, of ordering the strike, which the family alleges was an extrajudicial killing authorised by Donald Trump.
- Colombian President Gustavo Petro supports the family's quest for justice, echoing claims that the US strikes constitute "extrajudicial executions".
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BOGOTA – The family of a Colombian man killed in a US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean has lodged a complaint against the United States with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
The family of 42-year-old Alejandro Carranza Medina, who was killed on Sept 15, rejected assertions there were any drugs on the vessel targeted
“We know that Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defence, was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza Medina and the murder of all those on such boats,” reads the complaint, seen by AFP on Dec 3.
US strikes in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific have killed more than 80 people
Family members and victims’ governments insist some of those killed were fishermen, and rights groups say the strikes are illegal even if the targets were in fact drug traffickers.
The IACHR complaint said Mr Hegseth gave the orders “despite the fact that he did not know the identity of those being targeted for these bombings and extra-judicial killings” it said were “ratified” by US President Donald Trump.
The IACHR is a quasi-judicial body of the Organisation of American States, created to protect human rights in the region.
In an interview with AFP in October, Mr Carranza’s widow, Ms Katerine Hernandez, said he had been a “good man”.
He left behind four children.
“He had no ties to drug trafficking, and his daily activity was fishing,” Ms Hernandez said.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has called the US strikes “extrajudicial executions”, has vowed support for the family in its quest for justice. AFP
