Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The family of a Colombian fisherman has filed a formal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights over a death attributed to a U.S. military strike on a boat in the Caribbean -- a campaign Washington says is part of its operations against transnational drug-trafficking networks.
The petition was filed on behalf of Alejandro Carranza, who was killed Sept. 15 during a U.S. airstrike off the coast of Colombia.
The commission has the power to monitor, investigate and promote human rights across the Americas. It can receive individual petitions, issue precautionary measures to protect people at risk, conduct country visits, publish reports and refer cases to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, though it does not itself issue binding judgments.
However, should the case advance, the United States does not accept the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The United States signed the American Convention on Human Rights in 1977, but never ratified it.
The filing is supported by Daniel Kovalik, a human-rights attorney who has represented President Gustavo Petro in several international cases, El País reported. Kovalik called for an investigation into responsibility, reparations for damages and a review of the legality of the operations.
