Cyprus-Forum.com

[DT.]

Torture, discrimination against the Roma people, death's in custody....all here baby.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/italy/report-2008

‘War on terror’
The Italian authorities failed to co-operate fully with investigations into human rights violations in the “war on terror” and came under criticism from the European Parliament for their involvement in renditions.


Renditions
On 16 February, an Italian judge issued indictments against seven Italian citizens, primarily operatives of the Italian military and security service agency, Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (SISMI), in connection with the abduction of Abu Omar. Abu Omar, of Egyptian nationality and resident in Italy, was abducted from a street in Milan in 2003 and sent to Egypt as part of the US-led programme of renditions. On arrival in Egypt Abu Omar was immediately detained and allegedly subjected to torture; he was released on 11 February 2007 without charge. A Milan court issued extradition requests in July 2006 and in February 2007 it issued indictments against 26 US citizens suspected of being involved in the rendition. By the end of the year the Minister of Justice had failed to forward to the US authorities the extradition requests for 26 US citizens, most of them thought to be agents of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In April, the Constitutional Court declared admissible the Italian government’s appeal of “conflict of powers”. The government claimed that the judiciary had taken on powers it was not constitutionally allowed when collecting some of the evidence in the proceedings against those accused of being responsible for Abu Omar’s rendition. On 18 June the trial was suspended pending the outcome of the Constitutional Court’s review, and remained suspended at the end of the year.

In February, the European Parliament condemned the extraordinary rendition of Italian citizen Abou Elkassim Britel in a resolution on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners. Abou Elkassim Britel was arrested in Pakistan in March 2002 by the Pakistani police and interrogated by US and Pakistani officials, then subsequently rendered to the Moroccan authorities. The Italian Ministry of Interior reportedly co-operated with foreign secret services concerning the case of Abou Elkassim Britel following his arrest in Pakistan.
Pisanu Law
Italy retained legislation (the so-called Pisanu Law) on urgent measures to combat terrorism which provides for expulsion orders of both regular and irregular migrants without effective protection against forcible return to countries where they may be at risk of serious human rights violations. The Law does not require the person deported to have been convicted of or charged with a crime connected to terrorism. The expulsion can be ordered by the Minister of Interior or, under his/her delegation, by a Prefect (Prefetto). The Law does not provide for judicial confirmation or authorization of the expulsion decision and of its implementation. A decision to expel under the Law may be appealed before a judge, but the appeal does not suspend the deportation. In its Concluding Observations on 18 May, the UN Committee Against Torture recommended that Italy comply fully with Article 3 of the Convention against Torture regarding refoulement. The Committee expressed particular concern regarding the Pisanu Law.

On 4 January, Cherif Foued Ben Fitouri was expelled from Italy to Tunisia under the provisions of the Pisanu Law. According to the expulsion order, he was removed from Italy for being an acquaintance of people involved with Islamic groups allegedly planning terrorist acts. In Tunisia he was held in solitary confinement in the Ministry of Interior. On 16 January, he was transferred to a prison under military jurisdiction. According to reports received by Amnesty International, he was subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment whilst in detention in Tunisia. He remained in detention in Tunisia at the end of the year.
On 29 May the Italian authorities requested the Tunisian government to provide diplomatic assurances that were Nassim Saadi to be deported from Italy to Tunisia, he would not be subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights. On 8 August 2006, the Minister of Interior had ordered the deportation of Nassim Saadi to Tunisia. On 14 September 2006, Nassim Saadi launched an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to suspend his expulsion. The Court issued an interim measure and the expulsion was suspended until further notice.
Police and security forces
Italy continued to lack an effective police accountability mechanism. There were irregularities in legal processes against law enforcement officials accused of human rights violations. One person was shot dead by a law enforcement officer and another died while in police custody under circumstances which at the end of the year were subject to judicial investigations. The first sentences for police ill-treatment during the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa were handed down.

On 19 October, the trial against four police officers accused of voluntary manslaughter of Federico Aldrovandi began. Federico Aldrovandi died on 25 September 2005 after being stopped by four police officers in Ferrara. During the pre-trial investigations blood samples taken at the place of Federico Aldrovandi’s death disappeared and then re-emerged, and records of phone calls to emergency services the night of his death were tampered with.
On 4 April, law enforcement officers reportedly used excessive force to break up a potentially violent clash between AS Roma and Manchester United supporters during a football match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Images and witness statements to Amnesty International showed that between 60 and 100 Italian police officers entered the area of the stadium where Manchester fans were situated and severely beat football supporters with batons. Several victims reported that police officers repeatedly hit them while they were lying on the ground, and on the head or their back from behind. Some of those assaulted had still not recovered from their injuries by the end of the year and some had been told that they would remain partially incapacitated for the rest of their lives.
G8 trials
Trials against law enforcement officials involved in the policing of the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001 continued. It is estimated that over 200,000 people participated in anti-globalization demonstrations on the streets of Genoa in the days immediately preceding and during the summit in 2001.

On 17 January, it emerged that key evidence during a hearing in the trial of 29 police officers facing charges of, among others, violence and the fabrication of evidence in relation to the Diaz school building raid, had disappeared. The Genoa Questura (police station) stated that they may have been “destroyed by mistake”.
In May, the first sentence for the G8 events was handed down. The Ministry of Interior was sentenced to pay reparations of €5,000 to Marina Spaccini and €18,000 to Simona Zabetta Coda, who were beaten by police officers in Genoa.
In March, the European Court of Human Rights declared admissible the application lodged in the case of Carlo Giuliani, who was fatally shot by a law enforcement official during the G8 summit.
UN Committee against Torture
On 18 May, the CAT published its Concluding Observations on Italy. The CAT recommended that Italy incorporate into domestic law the crime of torture and adopt a definition of torture that covers all the elements contained in Article 1 of the Convention. The CAT further recommended that all law enforcement officers be adequately equipped and trained to employ non-violent means and only resort to the use of force and firearms when strictly necessary and proportionate. The CAT noted continued allegations of excessive use of force and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials. Regarding accountability for law enforcement officials who engage in disproportionate and unnecessary violence, the CAT recommended that Italy “strengthen its measures to ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment committed by law enforcement officials.”


Migrants and refugees’ rights
Italy still lacked a specific and comprehensive asylum law in line with the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.A governmental draft bill approved on 24 April by the Council of Ministers contained new proposals for detention of migrants. The bill set out guidelines for amendments to the Comprehensive Law on Immigration 286/98 (Testo Unico Immigrazione, known as the Turco-Napolitano law) as modified by Law 189/02 (known as the Bossi-Fini law). These guidelines included rules on unaccompanied minors, detention and deportation. A directive was issued by the Ministry of Interior, requesting that the relevant Prefect allow access to the UNHCR, “humanitarian and international organisations”, local NGOs and journalists to centres holding asylum-seekers and irregular migrants.In its Concluding Observations on 18 May, the CAT stated that Italy should take effective measures to ensure that detention of asylum-seekers and other non-citizens is used only in exceptional circumstances or as a measure of last resort, and then only for the shortest possible time and that Italy should also ensure that courts carry out a more effective judicial review of the detention of these groups.


Discrimination – Roma
On 2 November, an urgent Decree Law came into force which made it possible for the Italian authorities to expel European Union (EU) citizens based on concerns for public security. The Decree Law did not comply with EU Directive 2004/38 /EC and seemed to be directed at Romanian citizens of Romani origin as a reaction to the suspected murder in Rome of an Italian woman by a man described as a Roma from Romania. Within two weeks after the Decree Law came into force 177 persons had been expelled.In May, the mayors of Rome and Milan signed “Security Pacts” which envisaged the forced eviction of up to 10,000 Romani people. Throughout the year, the Italian authorities engaged in large-scale evictions of Roma communities which contravened international human rights standards. Discriminatory language was used by several leading politicians, including the Prefect of Rome, Carlo Mosca, who reportedly referred to Romanian Roma as beasts (“bestie”) in early November.

[DT.]

Human Trafficking in Italy

from Human RIghts Watch

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2002/05/31/trafficking-italy

[DT.]

Detention and expulsions of migrant minors
from Amnesty International

http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/italy/report-2007


Migration
Italy still lacked a specific and comprehensive law on asylum, and retained the Bossi-Fini law on migration which included provisions that contravened human rights laws and standards.

Detention and expulsions of migrant minors

Migrant minors continued to be routinely detained upon arrival at the maritime border in Italy, in contravention of international human rights and refugee law. The right of detained minors to be kept separate from adults who are not members of the same family was in many cases not respected. Minors were often not given legal aid or information about their rights and were in some cases at risk of being forcibly returned to their countries of origin due to inaccurate age assessment. In some cases unaccompanied minors also faced body searches, inspections and confiscation of belongings. Some minors were not granted prompt access to asylum procedures, while others were considered as asylum-seekers without their knowledge and received residence permits which they did not understand.

In January, three brothers of Somali origin who were minors were sent back to Ghana, from where they had arrived only the previous day, reportedly carrying false passports. During their detention at Malpensa Airport in Milan they were reportedly not asked their age or nationality, nor informed about the possibility of applying for asylum and not allowed to contact their relatives in Europe. The three eventually fled to Côte d'Ivoire.

Corruption and abuses in detention centres

Conditions in many detention centres continued to be problematic. There were reports of guards taking bribes to supply migrants with overpriced goods and complaints of poor legal, medical and psychological assistance.

In October it was reported that groups of migrants escaped from the Caltanissetta detention centre in Sicily after bribing guards. The Ministry of the Interior and the Caltanissetta public prosecutor began investigations into abuses and crime at the same centre.

Access to migrant detention centres

Following a declaration by the Minister of the Interior that AI should be allowed access to migrants' detention centres, procedures were initiated to authorize such access. Access had previously been denied to AI and other non-governmental organizations.

Co-operation with Libya

High-level discussions with the Libyan authorities began regarding joint actions aimed at stemming migration to Italy and included promises by the Italian authorities of financial support to Libya to build detention centres for migrants, and by Libya to patrol its southern borders. This undertaking was given despite the fact that Libya had not ratified the UN Refugee Convention and its Protocol, and had not established national asylum procedures.

Counter-terrorism measures
Abu Omar abduction and rendition

Preliminary judicial investigations were concluded in the case of Abu Omar, an Egyptian citizen with an Italian residence permit, who was abducted from a street in Milan in 2003 as part of the USA's programme of secret detentions and renditions - the unlawful transfer of people between states outside of any judicial process. Abu Omar was flown by the USA to Egypt, where he was reportedly tortured in detention. The abduction was reported to have been carried out by US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents and members of the Italian military and security service agency, Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (SISMI). Although the Minister of Justice gave permission for Italian magistrates to interview suspects in the USA, by the end of 2006 the Ministry had not forwarded extradition requests to the US authorities. By the end of the year a total of 26 arrest warrants for alleged US operatives had been issued, including one for the head of the CIA office in Italy at the time of the abduction. Arrest warrants were also issued for two SISMI agents.

In December, prosecutors asked a judge to indict the 26 US operatives and nine Italian citizens, including the head of SISMI at the time of the abduction.

Summary expulsions

Several migrants were given expulsion orders and some were sent back to their countries of origin

based on counter-terrorism legislation (Law 155/05, the so-called "Pisanu Law") in place since 2005. No judicial control was carried out on whether those expelled were involved in criminal activities, whether the expulsion itself was legal, or whether subjects of the expulsion orders risked human rights abuses in their countries of origin. Those expelled during the year included nationals from Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia.

One man was summarily expelled to Syria despite having a residence permit to remain legally in Italy. He was reportedly detained for several days by the Syrian authorities before being released.

The Pisanu Law allowed expulsion orders of both regular and irregular migrants to be decided and implemented based on "well-grounded reasons to believe that his/her stay in the territory could favour in any manner terrorist organizations and activities". The law did not require the person deported to have been convicted of or charged with a crime connected to terrorism and did not provide for judicial confirmation or authorization of the decision and of its implementation. The law provided for a judicial appeal against the decision, but not for suspension of the actual deportation pending the appeal. The expulsion procedure lacked effective protection from refoulement for people who could be at risk of persecution or other serious human rights violations once in the country of origin. In November, the European Court of Human Rights suspended the deportation of three people about to be expelled based on the Pisanu Law. The Court based its decision on the risks they would run in their countries of origin if expelled, including the risk of torture and ill-treatment.

The Italian Constitutional Court was investigating whether some provisions of the Pisanu Law violated the right to judicial remedy, the right to defence, and the right to fair trial.

During the second half of the year, evidence emerged regarding a governmental list of migrants to be expelled on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. At least one of the persons expelled in 2006 based on the counter-terrorism law was on the list.

Police concerns
Italy still failed to make torture, as defined in the UN Convention against Torture, a specific crime within its penal code. There was no independent police complaints and accountability body. Policing operations were not in line with the European Code of Police Ethics, for example in the requirement for officers to display prominently some form of identification, such as a service number, to ensure they could be held accountable.

An investigation continued into a December 2005 operation in Val di Susa when several hundred law enforcement officers attempted to remove around 100 people demonstrating against a high-speed rail link. Demonstrators were reportedly assaulted and beaten, many while sleeping.

Updates: policing of 2001 demonstrations

Trials of police officers continued in relation to policing operations around the mass demonstrations in Naples in March 2001 and during the G8 Summit in Genoa in July 2001.

In November a Genoa court declared that it would not reopen investigations into the death of Carlo Giuliani, a young man fatally shot by a law enforcement official during the 2001 demonstrations in the city. Calls to reopen investigations had been prompted by the emergence of potential new evidence.

International scrutiny
In April, the UN Human Rights Committee adopted its Concluding Observations on Italy after reviewing the state's periodic report. The Committee recommended among other things that Italy establish an independent national human rights institution, in accordance with the UN Paris Principles. It also recommended that efforts be increased to ensure that prompt and impartial investigations were carried out into allegations of ill-treatment by law enforcement officers.

The Committee further recommended that the maximum period during which a person may be held in custody following arrest on a criminal charge be reduced, even in exceptional circumstances, to less than the current five days and that the detainee be given access to independent legal advice immediately. It also recommended that Italy ensure that the judiciary remain independent of the executive power, and that judicial reform not jeopardize this independence.

[DT.]

Any smartass thinking of asking me what Italy has to do with the Cyprus problem can keep schtum.

Apart from the fact that we belong to the same Union and they are a vital ally and partner to Cyprus may I also remind everyone that had the Venetians performed better against the Ottomans then we wouldn't have a Cyprus problem now.

Let not forget the Piedmontese either.

[Oracle]

Any smartass thinking of asking me what Italy has to do with the Cyprus problem can keep schtum.

You go right ahead, by Presidential decree!

All "fair & square" as a former 'friend' usually says .... without any "double standards".

[bill cobbett]

Damn the bleeding Veneticians and the Athenisians.

[T_C]

Weren't the GCs opressed by the Venetians?

[YFred]

Weren't the GCs opressed by the Venetians?

Apparently Cypriots were very thankful for the Ottomans for saving them from the dreaded Catholics. Though it’s only a rumour, I don't have personal experience of this!

[T_C]

Weren't the GCs opressed by the Venetians?

Apparently Cypriots were very thankful for the Ottomans for saving them from the dreaded Catholics. Though it’s only a rumour, I don't have personal experience of this!

Unhappy with Venetian rule, the Cypriots did nothing to oppose the Turkish landings.

http://warandgame.wordpress.com/2008/03 ... of-cyprus/

[Dr J]

Apparently Cypriots were very thankful for the Ottomans for saving them from the dreaded Catholics. Though it’s only a rumour, I don't have personal experience of this!

Just like the Cypriots were thankful for the Turkish 'peace intervension' in 1974.