The document has been submitted to the human rights body (IACHR), which is part of the Pan-American Organization of the Americas. In the accusation, the man's relatives reject claims that there were drugs in the boat's cargo. In fact, it was a fishing boat, with 42-year-old professional fisherman Alejandro Carranza Medina on board, it writes.
The attack took place on September 15 and was part of the US's ongoing campaign against so-called "drug boats" in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, where at least 22 ships have been attacked, resulting in over 80 deaths.
The procedure has met with sharp criticism from lawyers and former military personnel, who believe that the attacks constitute a violation of international law and possibly even a war crime.
“We know that Pete Hegseth, the United States Secretary of War, was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like the one belonging to Alejandro Carranza Medina and the killing of all those aboard those boats,” the protest filed states.
In recent days, Hegseth has found himself in a storm after reports of an ordered so-called double attack, where the American military carried out a second shelling of a boat when it was determined that two people had survived the first attack.
