The parents of a Colombian fisherman have launched the first formal legal challenge against a series of controversial US airstrikes on suspected drug boats, authorised by the Trump administration. Carmela Medina and Alejandro Carranza filed a petition with a major human rights body on Tuesday, alleging their son was illegally killed in a US military strike on 15 September 2025.
A Landmark Legal Challenge
The complaint was submitted to the Washington DC-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an arm of the Organization of American States tasked with protecting rights in the region. The petition, filed by US human rights lawyer Dan Kovalik, states that Alejandro Andres Carranza Medina was sailing his boat off the Colombian coast when it was bombed by the US military, resulting in his death.
This legal action marks the initial formal complaint concerning the Trump administration's bombing campaign against vessels suspected of drug trafficking. The White House has defended the strikes under a novel interpretation of law, a position now directly contested by this filing.
Holding US Officials to Account
The petition explicitly names US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth as the perpetrator, based on his public admissions. "Secretary Hegseth has admitted that he gave such orders despite the fact that he did not know the identity of those being targeted," the document argues. It further contends that President Donald Trump has ratified Hegseth's conduct.
In response to inquiries, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly did not address the specific complaint but accused the media of "running cover for foreign terrorists smuggling deadly narcotics intended to murder Americans."
The Victim and the Campaign
Alejandro Carranza, 42, is believed to have died in the second strike of the administration's disclosed campaign, which has totalled 21 attacks. His family insists he was a fisherman, often hunting for marlin and tuna. On the day he was killed, Trump announced on Truth Social that a "SECOND Kinetic Strike" had been conducted on his orders against "positively identified" narcoterrorists.
Although Trump claimed the crew was Venezuelan, Colombian authorities later identified them as their own citizens. Lawyer Dan Kovalik stated the aim is to seek redress for the family and to have the US ordered to cease the boat attacks. "It may be a first step," he said, "but we think it's a good first step."
The case now places the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in a pivotal position, testing its ability to scrutinise the actions of one of its most powerful member states in the name of protecting fundamental rights.
