Lo European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) del Consiglio d’Europa ha svolto una missione in Italia nel luglio del 2009. Nel Rapporto redatto al termine della missione, pubblicato il 28 aprile, il CPT dichiara che la politica italiana dei respingimenti, viola il diritto internazionale. In particolare, le conclusioni del rapporto recitano (enfasi nostre):
48. The CPT recognises that States have the sovereign right to protect their borders and to introduce measures controlling migration within their jurisdiction. Further, Article 5 (1) (f) of the European Convention on Human Rights expressly permits “the lawful arrest or detention of a person to prevent his effecting an unauthorised entry into the country or of a person against whom action is being taken with a view to deportation or extradition”. However, the exercise of this right must be in accordance with a State’s other international obligations.
In the CPT’s view, Italy’s policy, in its present form, of intercepting migrants at sea and obliging them to return to Libya or other non-European countries, violates the principle of non-refoulement, which forms part of Italy’s obligations under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
49. Italy is bound by the principle of non-refoulement wherever it exercises its jurisdiction, which includes via its personnel and vessels engaged in border protection or rescue at sea, even when operating outside its territory. Moreover, all persons coming within Italy’s jurisdiction should be afforded an appropriate opportunity and facilities to seek international protection.
However, the information available to the CPT indicates that no such opportunity or facilities were afforded to the migrants intercepted at sea by the Italian authorities since May 2009. On the contrary, the persons who were pushed back to Libya in the operations carried out from May to July 2009 were denied the right to obtain an individual assessment of their case and effective access to the refugee protection system.
50. In the light of the information available, Libya cannot be considered a place of safety, nor a safe country in terms of human rights and refugee law; the situation of persons arrested and detained in Libya, including that of migrants – who are also exposed to being deported to other countries by Libya – indicates that the persons pushed back to Libya are at risk of ill-treatment.
Moreover, from the findings of the CPT’s delegation, it would appear that the Italian authorities have knowingly pushed back particularly vulnerable persons (see paragraph 37), and perhaps also persons who could attest to their status as refugees (see paragraph 23).
51. The CPT is conscious of the challenges facing European States, in particular those forming Europe’s southern borders, by virtue of the influx of migrants in recent years. Nevertheless, it is imperative that the universal recognition of the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, and the collective enforcement of that human right at European level, be upheld. In this context, the CPT considers that all Parties to the Convention must ensure that migrants are provided with appropriate treatment, are given an opportunity to apply for asylum and are not sent back to a country where they may be at risk of ill-treatment.
The so-called push-back policy, as pursued by the Italian authorities and described in this report, does not meet these requirements. The CPT urges the Italian authorities to substantially review forthwith the current practice of intercepting migrants at sea, so as to ensure that all persons within Italy’s jurisdiction – including those intercepted at sea outside Italian territorial waters by Italian-controlled vessels – receive the necessary humanitarian and medical care that their condition requires and that they have effective access to procedures and safeguards capable of guaranteeing respect for the principle of non-refoulement.
