ECCHR is partnering with other legal human rights organizations – Amnesty International, Giuristi Democratici, Swiss Democratic Lawyers, European Democratic Lawyers and the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights – to closely monitor the preliminary hearings in the sea rescue case. Read the reports of the pre-trial procedures in the background section.

In this episode Francesca Cancellaro, one of the human rights lawyers representing the Iuventa 4 updates us on the pretrial, walks us through some of the many irregularities prolonging it, and explains why the case is so important for the future of activist-led rescue missions.

Hacked Phones, Undercover Cops, and Conspiracy Theories: Inside Italy’s Crackdown on Humanitarian Rescue

GENEVA (9 February 2023) – A UN expert* today condemned the criminalisation and repression of human rights defenders involved in sea-rescue charities in Italy, ahead of the trial of NGO crew members in Sicily.

Da sempre il grido “uomo in mare” ha fatto scattare l’opera di soccorso. Il soccorso da parte di qualunque nave sia in condizioni di farlo. Non c’è nemmeno bisogno che un tal principio sia statuito in trattati e convenzioni internazionali che costituiscono il diritto del mare. Ma ci sono anche gli obblighi che, ratificandoli, hanno assunto gli Stati e l’Italia tra questi, per poter far parte delle “nazioni civili”.

Avvocati spiati, giornalisti intercettati e ora anche interpreti inadeguati e atti non tradotti. Il più grande processo contro le Ong, a cinque anni dal sequestro della nave Iuventa, rimane ancora fermo al palo. Il tutto per colpa di una falla sistemica, che mette a rischio i diritti fondamentali degli indagati.

Thousands of lives were saved by activists who have now been put on trial in Sicily on trafficking charges

In Sizilien hat eine Gerichtsverhandlung begonnen, die zu einem Prozess gegen die private Seenotrettung werden könnte. Dass die Verhandlung unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit stattfand, ist kein gutes Zeichen.

Charities running migrant rescue ships in the Mediterranean face a pre-trial hearing in Sicily Saturday over alleged collusion with people traffickers after a controversial probe that involved mass wiretapping.

Oggi al Tribunale di Trapani a processo 21 persone, la maggior parte delle quali fanno parte di 3 organizzazioni attive nel soccorso in mare: fra loro l’equipaggio della nave tedesca Iuventa e quelli delle navi utilizzate fino al 2017 da MSF e Save the Children.

Angeklagt sind 21 Personen wegen angeblicher Schlepperei. Es ist das bisher größte Verfahren, auch Ex-Innenminister Matteo Salvini ist mitverwickelt.

On May 21, Kathrin Schmidt and three others from the ship are due to appear in an Italian court on charges of facilitating illegal entry into the country. They could all face 20 years behind bars. Listen to her story!

Alla vigilia del primo grande processo alle organizzazioni umanitarie accusate di favoreggiamento dell’immigrazione clandestina che si apre sabato a Trapani, grande mobilitazione della flotta umanitaria e della società civile.

In this episode Sascha – a former head of operations on the Iuventa – tells us what it was like working on the ship and how Italy’s far right movement got the intelligence services to spy on their activities and how the cops seized the ship.

Researchers have analysed exclusive video and photo material, Iuventa logbooks, GPS coordinates and weather data after the seizure of the ship. In this video, they refute the argumentation of Italian police in the Iuventa case: There is no evidence for a collusion of crew and smugglers.

In 2019, the man who first reported Iuventa rescue missions to the Italian police, tells ZEIT ONLINE reporters: “I never witnessed the NGOs collaborating with the traffickers. That was always just a hunch.” First appearence of Pietro Gallo, once seen as main witness against us, in international media.

Report about the day Italian undercover police bugged the Iuventa bridge: “Even at the time, the crew of the Iuventa suspected something wasn’t right, but they followed the orders given to them nonetheless. Only months later would they find out why the MRCC had ordered them to Lampedusa.”