The family of a Colombian man believed to be killed by a strike on a boat in September has filed a human rights complaint against the United States, saying that the attack was “murder” and that he was denied the right to due process.
The family believes that Colombian citizen Alejandro Carranza Medina, who was 42 years old, was killed on September 15, 2025, in the second of the publicly announced boat strikes. In their petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), they say that Carranza was denied his rights to due process and a fair trial in the killing.
This is the first known filing of its kind in relation to the strikes, and comes as the Trump administration is openly dismantling any human rights-related safeguards and enforcement measures in the U.S.
The IACHR is part of the Organization of American States. The D.C.-based institution analyzes human rights complaints, and has dozens of members, including the United States. Its decisions, however, are non-binding, as the U.S. has not ratified the treaty to enforce its actions.
The complaint, filed by Pittsburgh human rights lawyer Dan Kovalik, specifically names Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as bearing responsibility for the alleged violation.
“From numerous news reports, we know that Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza Medina and the murder of all those on such boats,” the complaint says, per The Guardian, which first reported the filing.
“Secretary Hegseth has admitted that he gave such orders despite the fact that he did not know the identity of those being targeted for these bombings and extra-judicial killing,” the complaint goes on, also saying that President Donald Trump bears responsibility.
I don’t see how this can be viewed as anything but straight up murder.
The American way as usual, the country that proclaimed itself as the protector of democracy, is not a member of ICC with 125 member nations either, and AFAIK any of the stronger bodies that exist to protect democracy and/or human rights.
On the contrary USA has worked decidedly against such organizations!
Every international organization that is supposed to have authority over anything is forced to kowtow to the leading imperial powers of the time and give them ridiculous concessions. If these organizations were fit to task and able to threaten their authority or ambition, they would be destroyed by any means necessary. The very existence of the UN Security Council is something of a tacit admission of this.
Yep, sadly all the big countries that need to be taken to the ICC don’t recognize it. Funny how that works. No United States, no Russia no China, etc. It’s a decent idea. But unfortunately toothless as most other justice is kept.