Reported in Earth Times, 28 April 2010
Italy’s policy to intercept migrants at sea, sending them back indiscriminately to Libya, violates international law, a report from the Council of Europe stated Wednesday.The so-called “push back” policy, launched in May 2009, has come under repeated criticism from human rights groups and the United Nations, but has so far escaped official sanctioning from the European Union. According to the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), the policy “violates the principle of non-refoulement,” a cornerstone of the 1951 Geneva Convention which prevents states from sending migrants back to places where they may face ill-treatment.
Read the Council of Europe Report to the Italian Government on the visit to Italy carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: download pdf >>>
