The civil court in Crotone, Calabria, overturned the Italian authorities’ decision to administratively detain the maritime rescue ship Humanity 1. The court also ordered the Italian authorities to pay the legal fees. Humanity 1 is operated by SOS Humanity, a German non-governmental organization focused on rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean. Notably, Judge Antonio Albinario issued the ruling, lifting the reservation on the organization’s appeal after previously suspending the authorities’ initial decision.
Humanity 1 was subjected to 20 days of administrative detention in Crotone after rescuing 77 migrants from three boats in distress in the Mediterranean Sea last March. The Italian authorities justified their decision by claiming the ship had ignored instructions from the Libyan coast guard.
According to the ship’s crew, they were threatened by the Libyan coast guard during the rescue operation. The coast guard obstructed the operation and fired a bullet into the sea, causing some migrants to jump into the water, resulting in the death of one migrant. The organization responsible for the ship issued a statement detailing the rescue operation two days after the incident.
The ruling was based on the 1979 Hamburg Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue. The judge determined that Libya could not be considered a safe place, despite the 2017 memorandum on migration flows between Italy and Libya. The judge also cited findings by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that the Libyan Coast Guard repeatedly violated basic human rights during its rescue operations.
“The logical conclusion is that the NGO is not guilty of any obstructive conduct,” stated the judge. “On the contrary, the ship belonging to the humanitarian organization was the only one that intervened to fulfill the obligation to rescue migrants at sea in accordance with international standards.” Judge Albinario also found sufficient evidence to dismiss the Libyan Coast Guard’s claim that there were armed individuals on board the ship.
