Since September this year, the United States to“Combat Drug Ship” in the Caribbean region under the pretext of several air strikes. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, on September 15, the US military mistakenly killed a Colombian fisherman in an air strike as a“Venezuelan drug dealer”, causing outrage in Colombia, the family of one of the fishermen has asked a human rights lawyer to file a formal complaint against the U. S. government.
On 2 December, the family of Alejandro Carranza, one of the victims of the air strike, filed a lawsuit with the IACHR Inter-n Commission on Human Rights through a human rights lawyer, it is also the first time the US government has been formally charged since the air campaign began. The indictment lambasts the United States for“Extrajudicial killings” that deprive victims of their human rights and demands compensation for their families and an end to such killings. Kovalick, a human rights lawyer, said the US military action violated not only international but also domestic law. The indictment also singles out U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Heggseth as directly responsible, emphasizing that he gave the order for the airstrikes and had“No knowledge” of the targets’ identities.
Fishermen arrive at the beach in Santa Marta, Colombia. Photo: US media
After the air strike on September 15, the White House posted a video showing off its“Achievements,” according to the Columbia Report’s news website, the three“Venezuelan drug terrorists are transporting drugs on the high seas and sailing to the United States”, it said. But the vessel attacked in the video was a“Very typical Colombian fishing vessel”. The victim’s family stressed that the 42-year-old Carranza killed by the military had“Been fishing all his life.” On the day of the incident, the engine of the fishing boat broke down and the boat drifted from the shore to the sea, carranza and his colleagues were undergoing emergency repairs, and the ship was in no condition to“Enter international waters,” as the White House put it, 400 kilometers from their home in Santa Marta.
President Petro had previously lambasted the United States for“Destroying an ordinary fishing family” and demanded an explanation, the Bogotã ¡ Posta reported. After the tragedy in Carranza, many fishermen in Santa Marta were afraid to go out to sea for fear of being blown up by US aircraft as“Drug dealers”. The White House has not responded directly to the indictments, the Guardian said, accusing some media reports of“Exonerating foreign terrorists who traffic in deadly drugs and kill Americans.”.