Italy is ready to open an investigation into the Libyan coastguard after aerial images were broadcast where they apparently shot at a migrant boat in the Mediterranean to intercept it, told AFP on Wednesday (July 7). Agrigento parquet in Sicily.
The images, filmed on June 30 from a reconnaissance plane of the German NGO Sea-Watch, show the impacts of two shots on the surface of the water, two or three meters from the bow of the blue wooden boat in which there were about fifty migrants. Then the coast guard seems to try to hit him before giving up.
The 64 migrants on board then arrived on July 1 on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, halfway between Sicily and the North African coast.
Luigi Patronaggio, the chief prosecutor in Agrigento, told AFP he was working on charges of “attempted shipwreck” launched by Sea-Watch, which filed a complaint.
According to Sea-Watch spokesperson Giorgia Linardi, this would be “the first time that a European country has launched an investigation against the Libyan coast guard”. “The images speak for themselves,” she argued.
Ministerial green light
However, the opening of an official investigation requires “the authorization of the Italian Ministry of Justice”, “since the proceedings are aimed at a foreign authority”.
“The alleged crime was committed in international waters, against foreigners,” he added, confirming that he was seeking this authorization without being able to specify how long it would take.
The prosecutor could get a green light because the migrants, who can testify to what happened, have arrived in Lampedusa, which falls under Agrigento’s jurisdiction.
The investigation would however be complicated by the fact that Rome and Tripoli are not linked by a judicial cooperation agreement. Contacted by AFP, the Libyan authorities did not immediately respond.
The announcement of this potential investigation comes ahead of a vote in the Italian parliament on the renewal of financial aid to the Libyan coast guard.
For years, Italy and the European Union have financed, trained and equipped the Libyan coastguard to prevent smugglers from bringing migrants and refugees to Europe on board makeshift boats. In addition, an Italian navy ship anchored in Tripoli provides them with technical assistance.
900 dead
The coast guards are however facing multiple accusations of ill-treatment of asylum seekers, leading many NGOs to denounce this policy.
Under international maritime law, people rescued at sea should be disembarked at a safe port. And the UN does not consider Libya to be a safe port.
The coastguard vessel implicated by the video, the PB 648 Ras Jadir, is one of four donated to the Libyan coastguard by Italy in 2017, according to Sea-Watch. In the images, he also tries to get closer to the motorized boat and seems several times to try to cut him off by multiplying the dangerous maneuvers.
Radio Radicale journalist Sergio Scandura, whose tracking of the movements of the Libyan coastguard vessel has been part of the prosecution’s file, told AFP that the incident occurred only 45 nautical miles (83 km) from Lampedusa.
“This is the first time that a Libyan patrol vessel has ventured this far north in pursuit of migrants,” he said.
The Libyan Coast Guard repatriated more than 13,000 people to Libya in the first half of 2021, exceeding the total figure for 2020, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Almost 900 people have died in Mediterranean waters this year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
