Italy: UN experts condemn
criminalisation of migrant rescues and threats to the independence of judiciary
GENEVA (18 July 2019) – UN human
rights experts* have expressed grave concern over the detention and criminal
proceedings in Italy against the German captain of the migrant rescue vessel
Sea-Watch 3, and stated that the threats to the judge who ruled her release
were unlawful.
“Rescuing migrants in distress at
sea is not a crime,” the experts said. “We urge the Italian authorities to
immediately stop the criminalisation of search and rescue operations.”
Carola Rackete was arrested and
placed under house arrest on 29 June 2019 after Sea-Watch 3 entered the Italian
port of Lampedusa with 40 migrants on board. On 1 July 2019, Rackete faced a
judge over accusations that she had ignored police in docking at Lampedusa and
that she had hit a police patrol boat. The judge dismissed the charges the next
day, ruling that Rackete had been fulfilling her duty to rescue persons in
distress at sea, and ordered her immediate release. She has since received
death and rape threats and has been targeted online through sexist messages.
She remains under investigation in
separate criminal proceedings over allegations relating to endangering the
lives of police officers and facilitating illegal migration. If convicted, she
could face up to 15 years in prison.
“Ongoing attempts to suppress NGO
search and rescue operations put the lives of thousands of migrants attempting
to cross the sea at risk,” said Obiora C. Okafor, Independent Expert on human
rights and international solidarity. “This prosecution could have a chilling
effect on migrant rights defenders and on civil society as a whole,” added
Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders.
Since her decision to release
Rackete, the judge has been attacked in the media. The Minister of Interior,
Matteo Salvini, has said via social
media that the ruling was a “political judgment” that allowed the liberation of
a “criminal”, and invited the judge, whom he described as “a leftist”, to take
off her robe and stand for election with the Democratic Party.
“Ideological political accusations
made against a judge by authorities of the executive simply for fulfilling a
well-established norm of public international law establishing a duty to rescue
persons in distress at sea constitute a serious breach of the principles of
judicial independence and the separation of powers. The duty to respect and
abide by the judgments and decisions of the judiciary constitutes a necessary
corollary of the principle of separation of powers,” said Diego García-Sayán,
the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.
“Politicians should refrain from
commenting on judicial decisions, especially when legal proceedings are still
ongoing. Public statements and personal attacks by high-ranking political
figures are a serious interference with the autonomy of individuals judges, and
may have the effect of hampering the authority of the judiciary as an
autonomous branch of the State power,” García-Sayán said.
UN experts have previously
expressed concern, in two official letters to the Italian government, over the
criminalisation or blocking of humanitarian help for migrants and refugees in
the Mediterranean Sea, including the refusal to allow NGO vessels to disembark
in Italian ports.
On 14 June 2019, Italy passed an
emergency decree, imposing fines on vessels for every person rescued at sea and
transferred to Italian territory, as well as threatening them with having their
licenses revoked or suspended.
“These rushed legislative measures
have the potential to seriously undermine the human rights of migrants,
including victims of arbitrary detention, torture, and other serious human
rights violations,” the experts said. “They directly contravene Italy’s human
rights obligations arising in the course of search and rescue operations,
including the non-derogable obligation to respect and protect the right to
life.”
ENDS
* The experts: Mr Diego
García-Sayán, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Mr
Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Mr
Obiora C. Okafor, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity;
Mr Felipe González Morales, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
and Ms Dubravka Šimonovic, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
causes and consequences.
The Special Rapporteurs and
Independent Experts are part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights
Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN
Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent
fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country
situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’
experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a
salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization
and serve in their individual capacity.
The Special Rapporteurs are part of
what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. SpecialProcedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights
system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and
monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or
thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a
voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their
work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in
their individual capacity.
For more information and media
requests please contact: Mr. Gotzon Onandia (+41 22 917 99 66 /
gonandia@ohchr.org)
For media inquiries related to
other UN independent experts please contact: Mr. Jeremy Laurence (+41 22 917 93
83 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)
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