EMERGENCY, Louise Michel, Mediterranea Saving Humans, Sea-Watch, SOS Humanity and SOS MEDITERRANEE are ready to join the criminal trial on the Cutro shipwreck.

The NGOs demand that the responsible authorities be held accountable for deliberate negligence in rescue operations and that international law be respected in the Mediterranean.

Crotone, 5 March 2025 - A coalition of maritime search and rescue (SAR) organisations is set to become a civil party in the Cutro shipwreck criminal trial. The trial seeks justice for the events that led to one of the most tragic shipwrecks in recent Italian history, when, between 25 and 26 February 2023, a vessel sank off the coast of Calabria, killing at least 94 people, 80 survived and an unknown number are still missing.

In the trial, six officers of the Coast Guard and the Guardia di Finanza are charged by the Italian prosecution with culpable shipwreck and multiple culpable homicide.

The NGO coalition comments: ‘The delays in launching timely rescue operations are not an accident, but calculated negligence. The Italian authorities have systematically ignored their duty to rescue and their impunity must end. Those responsible, including politicians, must no longer be allowed to escape justice while people continue to drown at sea.’

Over the years, a cycle of impunity has been established for state actors who have violated maritime law and human rights. The Cutro trial is important because it can break this cycle.

SAR organisations active in the Mediterranean have amply documented how delays in launching rescue operations have led to so many avoidable massacres. Therefore, judgement cannot stop at lower ranking officials and every decision, even those of higher authorities, must be taken up the chain of command.

EMERGENCY, Louise Michel, Mediterranea Saving Humans, Sea-Watch, SOS Humanity and SOS MEDITERRANEE intend to support the families of the victims, provide legal assistance and ensure that justice is done. The NGOs call for an immediate end to the criminalisation of people on the move and the re-establishment of effective rescue operations. The commitment to uphold international maritime law and human rights must underpin all political decisions.