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 hope this becomes a big deal and snowballs hard enough to hurt these monsters.
It’s just so sad, some jaggoff kills your family member on a whim. Just to feel macho. For friggin “branding.”
And the most reasonable power you have is to “file a complaint.”
Like, souls are gone. Families torn apart. Grief and anguish beyond comprehension, and legally the only recourse against this sheer bottomless evil is
“Hey, that wasn’t cool. We’re officially very upset about this. We disagree quite much with your decision to murder our families. Thank you for your time.”
God, the helplessness just tears at my heart. I couldn’t even imagine.
There will be no justice until these nazis join their ill begotten brethren in the eternal fires of the deepest pits of hell.
And the most reasonable power you have is to “file a complaint.”
It happens way more often than most people realize, even in the U.S. and long before Trump. Most people don’t even realize it until it’s your loved one you’re left seeking justice for.
The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized the idea of “parasites abusing the legal system” or claims about “frivolous lawsuits” are usually just conservative talking points.
Wealthy conservatives will always file the most frivolous lawsuits to intimidate and protect themselves, and they will also try to bribe or intimidate judges into ruling in their favor in criminal court, leaving family and friends of their victims the options of:
A. Seeking justice via vengeance or taking the law into their own hands, often winding up dead or in jail and continuing the cycle of injustice by ruining their own lives and the lives of their loved ones they leave behind.
B. Suing in civil court and taking on legal fees and countless hours devoting your life to seeking justice against people who have the gall to claim victimhood because they’re such self obsessed narcissists, they consider the innocent lives they destroy collateral damage (and you should say thank you /s).
C. Devoting the remainder of your life to speaking out against the people who murdered your loved one. This is where conservatives are the quickest to prove who the parasites filing frivolous lawsuits really are.
D. Just give up and do nothing/let the bastards grind you down. This is the option they would prefer you default to, so definitely don’t do that.
I would recommend in order option B. followed by option C. if necessary.
I don’t condone option A., and I truly believe option C. is the more rational and noble way to spend the remainder of your life if you can’t obtain justice via option B., but I would say morally speaking, even A. is preferable to D.
I don’t see how this can be viewed as anything but straight up murder.
Its decisions, however, are non-binding, as the U.S. has not ratified the treaty to enforce its actions.
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.
