{"id":309127,"date":"2025-12-08T12:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=309127"},"modified":"2025-12-04T06:56:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T06:56:15","slug":"hegseth-responsible-for-murder-family-files-formal-complaint-over-killing-of-colombian-fisherman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/12\/hegseth-responsible-for-murder-family-files-formal-complaint-over-killing-of-colombian-fisherman\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth \u2018Responsible\u2019 for \u2018Murder\u2019: Family Files Formal Complaint Over Killing of Colombian Fisherman"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the White House on 2 Dec 2025.
(Photo by Carolyn Van Houten\/The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

According to the official filing, Trump\u2019s Defense Secretary \u201chas 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 killings.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3 Dec 2025\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0The family of Colombian fisherman Alejandro Carranza Medina, believed killed by the US military<\/a> in a boat bombing in the Caribbean Sea on Sept. 15, has filed a formal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights<\/a> accusing US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth of murder<\/a> over the unlawful attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom numerous news reports, we know that [Hegseth] was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza and the murder of all those on such boats,\u201d reads the petition, filed Tuesday on behalf of Carranza\u2019s family by Dan Kovalik, a human rights attorney based in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Hegseth,\u201d the petition continues, \u201chas 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 killings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint also notes that President Donald Trump<\/a>, the commander in chief of the US military, \u201cratified the conduct of Secretary Hegseth described herein.\u201d<\/p>\n

First reported<\/a> on by The Guardian<\/em>, the filing of the petition with the IACHR\u2014an autonomous body under the charter of Organization of American States (OAS) designed to uphold human rights in the Western Hemisphere\u2014could result in the initiation of an investigation and the release of findings about the bombing that took the life of Carranza and two other individuals believed to be aboard the vessel.<\/p>\n

The petition, the outlet noted, \u201cmarks the first formal complaint over the airstrikes by the Trump administration<\/a> against suspected drug boats, attacks that the White House<\/a> says are justified under a novel interpretation of law.\u201d Experts in international human rights law have stated from the outset that the administration\u2019s justifications lack legal basis and that the attacks constitute unlawful criminal acts.<\/p>\n

According to The Guardian<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Carranza, 42, appears to have been killed in the second strike of the Trump administration\u2019s bombing campaign, on 15 September. The administration has publicly disclosed 21 strikes on alleged drug boats. Carranza\u2019s family says<\/a> he was a fisher who would often set out in search of marlin and tuna.<\/p>\n

On the day of the strike, Trump announced<\/a> on his Truth Social platform that \u201cThis morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility\u201d. Trump attached video marked \u201cunclassified\u201d of a small boat floating in the water<\/a> before it was struck.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Both Hegseth, the highest-ranked civilian at the Pentagon<\/a>, and Trump have been under growing scrutiny for the series of boat bombings that have resulted in the extrajudicial killing of over 80 people since September. Experts have said the killings should be seen as \u201cmurder, plain and simple<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

New revelations about a strike on Sept. 2, in which two survivors of an initial bombing were later killed as they clung to the exploded boat on which they were traveling, has evelated that concern in Washington<\/a>, DC this week with lawmakers seeking answers about the attack which, even if one accepted the legality of the initial strike under the construct the Trump administration has tried to claim, would constitute a clear human rights violation amounting to a war crime.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Agence France-Presse<\/em> in October, Katerine Hernandez, Carranza\u2019s wife in Colombia<\/a>, said her husband was \u201ca good man\u201d devoted to fishing and providing for his family. \u201cWhy did they just take his life like that?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Hernandez denies that Carranza was involved in drug trafficking, as Trump and Hegseth have alleged without providing evidence, but also suggested that even if drug trafficking was taking place, it would not justify his murder. \u201cThe fishermen have the right to live,\u201d she said. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t they just detain them?\u201d<\/p>\n

In a Tuesday statement, the IACHR urged<\/a> the US government to \u201censure respect for human rights\u201d during any and all extraterritorial military operations in the region, noting the deaths of a high number of persons both in the Caribbean and in the Pacific, where other strikes have taken place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile acknowledging the seriousness of organized crime and its impact on the enjoyment of human rights, the Commission recalls that States are obliged to respect and ensure the right to life of all persons under their jurisdiction,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to the Inter-American jurisprudence, this duty extends to situations when State agents exercise authority or effective control, including extraterritorial actions at sea,\u201d it continues. \u201cWhen lethal force is used by security or military personnel outside national territory, States have the obligation to demonstrate that such actions were strictly lawful, necessary, and proportionate, and to investigate, ex officio, any resulting loss of life. These obligations persist irrespective of where the operations occur, or the status attributed to the individuals affected. Likewise, persons under State control must always enjoy full respect for due process and humane treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission called on the US to \u201crefrain from employing lethal military force in the context of public security operations, ensuring that any counter-crime or security operation fully complies with international human rights standards; conduct prompt, impartial, and independent investigations into all deaths and detentions resulting from these actions; and adopt effective measures to prevent recurrence.\u201d<\/p>\n

___________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jon Queally is managing editor of <\/em>Common Dreams.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 commondreams.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3 Dec 2025\u00a0–\u00a0According to the official filing, Trump\u2019s Defense Secretary \u201chas 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 killings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":309128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[867,417,1661,3281,1126,1050,651,541,3324,2137,249,70,557],"class_list":["post-309127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-and-the-caribbean","tag-anglo-america","tag-bullying","tag-colombia","tag-evil-empire","tag-hegemony","tag-imperialism","tag-justice","tag-latin-america-caribbean","tag-north-america","tag-south-america","tag-trump","tag-usa","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309130,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309127\/revisions\/309130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}