Groups like UpRights and StraLi welcomed the “landmark” ruling, urging “Italy to comply with international human rights standards and end its complicity with violations of migrants’ rights.”The court caseThe case in question is a 2018 incident. A lower Italian court prosecuted the ship’s captain in 2021, finding him guilty of violating international humanitarian and refugee laws. Overall, Human Rights Watch estimates at least 25,313 people have died in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014. The verdict also holds legal relevance amid ongoing legal disputes between human rights organisations and the European government over ‘push-and pull-back’ operations. One such case was filed in 2017 in the European Court of Human Rights by the Global Legal Action Network, after reports emerged of survivors being sold, beaten, raped, and electrocuted.

Source: Libya Today March 01, 2024 08:32 UTC