3 hours agoUN officially blames Italy for the death of 200 immigrants in 2013
Periskopi(5 years ago)
(5 years ago)Italy has failed in its duty to protect human life by pushing the rescue mission for the ship that sank in the Mediterranean, the UN Committee for Human Rights has found. More than 200 people on that ship sank on October 11, 2013, after being ignored for continued demands [...]
More than 200 people on that ship sank on October 11, 2013, after being ignored for continued relief calls, according to this committee brought to justice by Syrian and Palestinian survivors who had lost their closest relatives.
The ship carried 400 people, many of them Syrians, when it left Libya. She sent for help after being shot by another ship.
According to investigators, Italian authorities had responded to calls from the ship, referring to the Malaysian authorities. Five hours later, a Malaysian ship had arrived at the scene, but it was too late, reports The Guardian, translating Periscopi into Albanian.
“If Italian authorities immediately directed its ships after the call, it would have reached the immigrant ship two hours before it sank,” said committee member Helene Tigroudja.
“Aksident occurred in international waters inside the Malaysian search and rescue zone, but the location was closer to Italy. ”
The committee said Italy had obligations in international law to protect the lives of anyone in trouble at sea and to support rescue missions.
This committee called on the Italian state to conduct an independent investigation and prosecute anyone responsible.
More than a thousand people have died or disappeared trying to reach Europe from North Africa in 2020, and another 480 have died or disappeared from the west African coast. /Periscope
