We learn from the articles published today, 18 January, by Nello Scavo in Avvenire and by Enrico Caporale in La Stampa that, after years of atrocities committed against women, men and children in Libya and after tens of thousands of deaths in the central Mediterranean, a complaint has finally been lodged with the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Italy and Malta for complicity in the crime of 'crimes against humanity'. This has been done by experts and lawyers - from 'UpRights' (Holland), 'Adala for All' (France) and 'StraLi' (Italy) - who, thanks to rigorous work and documented evidence, have in the past condemned the executioners responsible for massacres from Bosnia to Rwanda.
Finally. Not because it takes a court of law, however authoritative, to convince us to do something about the shameful violation of human rights and the lives of our brothers and sisters. Women and men whose only crime is to be poor in the first place, in a world where the 'pandemic of inequality', as Oxfam calls it, means that a handful of billionaires own most of the wealth produced in a world of 7 billion people.
But finally it is said, with evidence in hand, that these Libyan torturers, these bandits, torturers, ruthless criminals, have accomplices! They do not do what they do alone, they do not come from the darkest recesses of human nature. They have been 'in the pay' of 'civilised' European governments all these years, they have received hundreds of millions of euros voted by equally civilised and democratic parliaments. What can we call the 'gift' of 20 Italian patrol boats to a so-called 'Libyan coastguard' that includes a wanted criminal like Bija? Patrol boats to catch and deport women, men and children trying to escape death and suffering. Concentration camps set up in Libya to prevent people from seeking asylum in Europe. These arrests, these deportations, carried out with means provided by Italy and often coordinated by Italian ships and European surveillance agencies, violate everything there is to violate in terms of international conventions and constitutional principles.
Now we hope that the 'sincere democrats' in parliament and government who voted for the refinancing of the 'Italy-Libya' memorandum, thanks to which these crimes against humanity are being committed, will read and reflect. The alibi that "in order to stabilise Libya it was necessary to turn a blind eye to the atrocities in order to stop them" is no longer valid. The disastrous outcome of the attempted elections on 24 December is there for all to see. And it is precisely these gangs, strengthened by Italian and European money and resources, that are making it impossible to stabilise Libya. A country, moreover, in which Italy no longer counts, thanks to this sorcerer's apprentice policy that has brought so much suffering to innocent people. If you want to play the friend of militias and mafias of all kinds, there is always someone better than you, like Turkey, for example, which, in keeping with what it is, an authoritarian regime, has much more 'craft' in dealing with the issue.
We will continue to fight against crime and criminals, both at sea and on land. We hope that the judges will have the courage to go all the way. For us, all the more reason to continue.
