Covering events from January - December 2003

The functioning of the justice system fell short of international standards. There were further allegations of excessive use of force and ill-treatment by law enforcement and prison officers, as well as reports of detainee and prisoner deaths in disputed circumstances. Detention conditions in some facilities, including temporary holding centres for aliens, fell below international standards. The lack of a comprehensive law on asylum combined with certain provisions of the immigration law meant that many asylum-seekers faced obstacles in exercising their right to asylum. There were fears that some asylum-seekers were forced to return to countries where they risked grave human rights violations and that some individuals expelled to their countries of origin on grounds that they posed a danger to national security and public order had no opportunity to challenge the decision in fair proceedings, resulting in possible breaches of the principle of non-refoulement. Roma and a number of other ethnic minorities suffered discrimination in many areas, including policing, housing and employment. Women's rights organizations reported a high incidence of violence against women in the family, usually at the hands of the husband or partner. Trafficking in people for sexual purposes and forced labour was a problem.

International scrutiny of the justice system

In January the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers reported to the UN Commission on Human Rights on his November 2002 mission to Italy. He stated that tension between magistrates and the government was continuing, to "the detriment of the due administration of justice", including by delaying urgently needed judicial reforms; that court cases against the Prime Minister and a close associate on criminal charges involving corruption and false accounting were contributing to the tension, aggravated by them exploiting "weaknesses" in judicial procedures to delay their own cases and using parliamentary and legislative processes for their own benefit. He said the practice of magistrates seeking election to parliament without resigning from judicial office and "expressing opinions publicly on controversial political issues" was incompatible with judicial independence.

In February the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, after examining measures taken to reduce the excessive length of judicial proceedings, noted "significant progress was yet to be achieved in order for Italian justice fully to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms".

Asylum and immigration

Thousands of migrants continued to arrive on southern shores by boat and hundreds of others died in the attempt. There were reports of boats being turned back by Italian military vessels, thereby denying any asylum-seekers on board access to a fair and impartial individual asylum determination. Such interception of boats was allowed by a law on immigration introduced in 2002 and partly implemented through enabling legislation in 2003. There was concern that certain provisions in the law also allowed many asylum-seekers to be detained or restricted in their liberty in circumstances beyond those allowed under international standards, and permitted asylum-seekers to be expelled during appeal procedures relating to rejected asylum applications. Some asylum-seekers were left destitute while awaiting the outcome of initial asylum applications.

Temporary holding centres for aliens

Inmates of such centres, where unauthorized immigrants and rejected asylum-seekers could be detained for up to 60 days before expulsion from the country or release, often experienced difficulties in gaining access to the legal advice necessary to challenge the legality of their detention and expulsion. In January the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern about the detention of unaccompanied minors in such centres, the lack of adequate structures to receive them, and "an increase in repatriations without adequate follow-up". It recommended increased efforts to establish special reception centres, with stays "for the shortest time possible".

There was increasing tension in the centres, which were often overcrowded and unhygienic and provided unsatisfactory diets and inadequate medical care. An increasing number of allegations emerged of physical assaults on inmates.

  • In October, the public prosecutor's office in Lecce concluded an investigation into a complaint lodged by 17 young North African men. The men alleged that after attempting to escape from Regina Pacis holding centre in Puglia province in November 2002, they and dozens of fellow inmates were racially abused and physically assaulted by a Roman Catholic priest acting as the centre's director, as well as by around six members of the administrative personnel and 11 carabinieri providing the centre's security service. The prosecutor requested the relevant judge to commit all the accused for trial.
  • A criminal investigation began into allegations that, following an escape attempt by two North African inmates of the Via Mattei holding centre, Bologna, in March, some 11 police officers, one carabiniere and a member of the Red Cross administration were involved in a physical assault on them and some 10 other inmates.

Ill-treatment by police

Allegations of ill-treatment and use of excessive force by police often concerned members of ethnic minorities and demonstrators. In January the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed deep concern at "alleged ill-treatment by law enforcement officers against children and at the prevalence of abuse, in particular against foreign and Roma children".

In January the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) issued its report on a February 2000 visit to Italy. The CPT noted continuing allegations of ill-treatment by state police and carabinieri and that fundamental guarantees against ill-treatment in the custody of law enforcement officers were still missing. It called for detainees to have the right, in practice as well as in law, to consult a lawyer without delay and in private, and for the introduction of a legal right of access to a doctor.

  • Investigations were opened into allegations that, during a mass anti-war demonstration in Turin in March, police and carabinieri, using batons and tear gas, subjected some demonstrators, in particular peaceful demonstrators from the city's Muslim community, including about 50 women and children, to unwarranted and excessive use of force.

Updates: policing of 2001 demonstrations

Among ongoing criminal investigations were some relating to policing operations surrounding mass demonstrations during the Third Global Forum in Naples in March 2001 and the G8 Summit in Genoa in July 2001.

  • In June the Naples public prosecutor's office requested the judge of preliminary investigation to commit 31 police officers for trial on various charges, ranging from abduction to bodily harm and coercion.Some officers were additionally accused of abusing their position and of falsifying records. The judge's decision was still pending at the end of the year.
  • The inquiry into the fatal shooting of a G8 demonstrator, Carlo Giuliani, by a law enforcement officer then performing his military service in the carabiniere force, ended in May. The judge of preliminary investigation ruled that the officer had acted in self-defence, making legitimate use of his firearm, and should not be charged. She also decided that no charges should be pursued against the officer driving the vehicle, who had run over then reversed over Carlo Giuliani's body after he was shot. She stated that he had driven over the body unwittingly and that forensic evidence indicated that the resulting injuries were superficial and played no role in the death. She concluded that a pistol was the only means which the first officer had at his disposal to confront the demonstrators' violent attack; that, after waving his pistol in warning, he had fired the fatal shot but had not aimed at Carlo Giuliani but into the air, and that the shot's trajectory was deflected by a chunk of plaster thrown by a demonstrator. Carlo Giuliani's parents subsequently announced their intention to file an application against Italy with the European Court of Human Rights.
  • In September, Genoa public prosecutor's office concluded its investigations into the conduct of law enforcement officers during a raid on a building legally occupied by the Genoa Social Forum, the main demonstration organizer. The prosecutors presented their findings to 30 members of the state police, including high-ranking officers, allowing them the legal right to respond, before requesting their committal for trial. The prosecutors' accusations included abuse of authority, assault and battery, slander and falsifying evidence against the 93 people detained during the raid, apparently in order to justify the raid, the arrest of the 93 and the degree of force used by officers. A criminal investigation into accusations that the 93 had violently resisted state officers, committed theft and carried offensive weapons had ended in May when a judge ruled that there was no evidence of resistance. In December prosecutors concluded a separate criminal investigation into an accusation that they belonged to a criminal association intent on looting and destroying property and requested the relevant judge to close the proceedings without any charges being brought.
  • The public prosecutor's office concluded investigations into events inside Bolzaneto temporary detention facility, through which over 200 detainees held during the G8 summit passed. The findings were presented to 47 individuals, including members of the state police, carabinieri, penitentiary and medical personnel. The accusations included abuse of authority, assault and battery, falsifying records, and failing to certify injuries.

Ill-treatment and poor conditions in prisons

Reports persisted of chronic overcrowding and understaffing, poor sanitary provisions, inadequate medical assistance and high levels of self-harm in prisons. There was concern that the so-called "41-bis" high-security regime, allowing a severe degree of isolation from the outside world and applicable to prisoners held in connection with organized crime and crimes committed "for the purposes of terrorism or subversion of the state", could in certain circumstances amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In its report on its February 2000 visit, the CPT stated that the regime had led to an increase in anxiety problems as well as in sleep and personality disorders. Numerous criminal proceedings, some of them marked by excessive delays, were under way into alleged ill-treatment in prisons, in some cases amounting to torture.

Update

In February a judge of preliminary hearing considering the cases of defendants who had chosen to be tried via a fast-track trial procedure, allowing leniency in sentencing, concluded that inmates of San Sebastiano prison, Sardinia, had been subjected to unpremeditated ill-treatment by prison personnel in April 2000. Sentences ranging from fines to 18 months' imprisonment were handed down to nine prison officers, the former chief prison guard, a prison doctor, the former director of San Sebastiano prison and the former regional director of prisons. The judge concluded that there were no grounds to prosecute a further 20 prison officers. The public prosecutor appealed against the judge's decision, and proceedings against nine prison officers who had chosen to be tried under the ordinary criminal process were still open at the end of the year.

Update: the case of Adriano Sofri

Adriano Sofri, one of three men convicted in 1995 of participating in a politically motivated murder in 1972, following criminal proceedings whose fairness had repeatedly been called into question, remained in prison, serving a 22-year sentence. In June the European Court of Human Rights declared inadmissible an application complaining of unfairness in the criminal proceedings. Over 300 members of parliament, from both government and opposition parties, subsequently called for Adriano Sofri to be granted a presidential pardon. Although the President and Prime Minister indicated their support for a pardon, the Minister of Justice blocked it, as well as a pardon application submitted by Ovidio Bompressi, previously released from prison on health grounds. The third man convicted of involvement in the murder, Giorgio Pietrostefani, remained in hiding.

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.