The crew of the rescue ship Juventa has saved 14,000 lives in the Mediterranean. Yet far from being rewarded for his rescue work, four of the rescuers appeared in court in Italy this weekend on charges of a possible sentence of 20 years in prison.
“I feel like an endless nightmare,” campaign activist Catherine Schmid told the Observer ahead of Saturday’s preliminary hearing in a court in the Sicilian coastal town of Trapani. “Everyone knows the photos and videos of these now incapable of sailing, but then overcrowded rubber boats … The claim that there is no need to save these people is a crime in itself.”
More than 24,000 people who have tried to cross the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014 are dead or missing, according to the International Organization for Migration. Most drowned; some died of lack of water and / or shelter under the scorching sun; the fate of others remains unknown, the worst is assumed. “If this is not a necessity, then what else would you do?” Schmid asked.
Map of Lampedusa
Schmid was an occupational therapist, but he changed his mind in 2015, the year in which more than a million people came to Europe seeking refuge. She never set out to operate a search and rescue boat, but in 2016 she became head of the Iuventa team. The crew was trained to deal quickly and efficiently with men, women and children who may have panicked, been ill or injured on crowded boats.
Faced with the urgency of the rescue, there was no time for personal reflection. “I would look at the boat,” Schmid said. “How much more stable will he be?” Which side should we take? What do wind and water do? How many life jackets do we have? There are so many questions you have to answer in your head like that. ”
On August 2, 2017, everything seemed normal. The crew rescued two people at the request of Italian authorities and was asked to go to the port of Lampedusa. But they were shocked when they arrived: four Coast Guard boats with flashing blue lights accompanied Iuventa to the dock, expecting a clash with the media. “None of us expected that. It was very surreal, “Schmid said.
The crew realized that they were under investigation only a year later. Now, almost five years after Iuventa’s detention, their odyssey in the Italian judiciary has begun. Yesterday, Saturday, 21 defendants, four Iuventa crews and 17 other NGO officials took part in a preliminary hearing in Trapani, a trial to decide whether the case will go to full trial. Given the number of defendants and the different languages, a decision is not expected for many months.
Catherine Schmid was head of the Iuventa team when the investigation began in 2017. Photo: Selene Magnolia
Activists have been accused of plotting with smugglers to transport migrants to Europe. However, an independent team of digital and oceanographic experts who studied photos and videos, weather and ocean currents found that the images published by the prosecutor’s office in the Italian media were out of context. One photo showed a rigid Iuventa inflatable boat allegedly towed to Libya for smuggling by smugglers moving north to Europe. In the case of the accusation, “facts are not relied on to establish a true account of events, but to tell factual lies”, concluded the investigation of the London-based Forensic Architecture, which was submitted to the Italian courts.
Francesca Canchelaro, a lawyer representing the four defendants at Juventus, described the case as unique not only because of the length of the investigation but also because of the use of undercover agents, “incredible” wiretapping and a trial involving more than 20 defendants. “I am convinced that we will show their complete innocence,” she said. “We are talking about people who are involved in rescue operations. They respect the obligation arising from the law of the sea: the obligation to save people in need.
Asked to comment, Gabriele Paci, Trapani’s prosecutor, told the Observer: “The work these organizations are doing to save people [at sea] is not disputed, but in some cases there are hypotheses that need to be assessed by the judge that there have been agreements [made] with traffickers, which meant [the rescuers] then he knew when and in which part of the sea [to find migrants]. This is something you cannot do.
Humanitarian organizations have no doubts, but there is certain behavior that Italy bans and that is a crime Gabriele Paci, prosecutor
“We do not question organizations that carry out humanitarian activities, but there is certain behavior that Italy prohibits and which is a crime.
For observers, the case shows a worrying tendency to blame rescuers and criminalize asylum seekers, or simply a better life in a prosperous part of the world, less marked by poverty, corruption and the effects of climate change.
Cornelia Ernst, a German MEP from the left-wing Die Linke party, said she was “very concerned” that the criminalization of people on the move and those who support them is on the rise across Europe. “The case of the Iuventa crew, who are on trial for fulfilling their duty to save lives, is outrageous at sea. Civilian search and rescue organizations, NGOs and volunteers are intervening because the European Union is shamefully failing to act again and again. “
Many believe the tide reversed in 2014, when Italy terminated its naval rescue mission Mare Nostrum, leaving in its place a closer EU-funded border surveillance operation. The EU has since outsourced the issue. More than 84% of rescue operations in the central Mediterranean are now carried out by EU-backed Libyan coastguards, which return people to Libyan detention centers, where humanitarian agencies say they suffer beatings, sexual violence and forced labor.
Meanwhile, the death toll is rising: 1,100 people died or disappeared last year after leaving Libya. And Juventus remains tied up in the port of Trapani.
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