An attorney in Pittsburgh has filed a human rights petition on behalf of the family of a Colombian man who was killed in a U.S. military strike on a boat in the Caribbean.

While the Trump administration says it's combating narco-terrorists, Pittsburgh attorney Daniel Kovalik has filed a human rights petition on behalf of the family of Alejandro Carranza Medina, who was killed on Sept. 15, accusing the U.S. of killing innocent fishermen.  

U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific have killed more than 80 people whom Washington claims, without providing evidence, were ferrying drugs from Venezuela. 

But the family of Carranza Medina says he was a fisherman killed on his boat by an airstrike. They said he was fishing for marlin and tuna at the time of his death. Kovalik has filed a human rights petition on their behalf, claiming a violation of international treaties. 

"He was fishing," Kovalik said. "In fact, the last thing the family heard from him, and they told me this, he was going out into the Caribbean and he said it looked like a great day for fishing. That's the last thing they heard from him."

Kovalik, a former United Steelworkers attorney, has worked on human rights cases in South America and befriended Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro. 

At Petro's behest, Kovalik recently traveled to Colombia to meet with Carranza Medina's family, and has now filed this complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which investigates complaints in South and North America. The petition specifically names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.   

"We know that Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza Medina and the murder of all those on such boats," the petition says. "Secretary Hegseth has admitted that he gave such orders despite the fact that he did not know the identity of those being targeted".

"I call it murder, and it is," Kovalik said.

President Trump, who is also named in the petition, has called Petro a "thug" and an "illegal drug leader" and imposed sanctions and tariffs on Colombia. Saying he is protecting the health and safety of American citizens, Hegseth says the U.S. has credible evidence that the boats are trafficking drugs from there. But Kovalik says none of those killed had been charged or tried.

"All 80 people who have been killed have been innocent because where I come from, you're innocent until proven guilty," Kovalik said. "None of these people were tried in a court of law. You just can't go killing people, right?"

Now, Kovalik acknowledges that this commission does not have enforcement powers to stop the U.S. from bombing boats, but he believes it does have persuasive powers to influence the public against it. 

KDKA reached out to the White House and Pentagon on Thursday night for comment on the petition. This story will be updated when a response is received.