Italian police torturing migrants, says Amnesty
Italian police have used beatings and electric shocks, potentially constituting “torture”, to coerce migrants into being fingerprinted as the country cracks under pressure from the European Union, Amnesty International said yesterday.
But the report was bluntly rejected by Italy’s chief of police, who completely denied the use of violent methods in the force’s handling of migrants.
The claims came as the United Nations refugee agency said at least 239 migrants were believed to have drowned this week in two shipwrecks off the coast of Libya, adding to the toll in what was already the deadliest year on record in the Mediterranean Sea.
If true, the latest shipwrecks bring the toll of dead and missing in the Mediterranean to 4220 this year, the highest on record, said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Amnesty International was standing by its claims of beatings.
“The European Union’s pressure on Italy to ‘ get tough’ on refugees and migrants has led to unlawful expulsions and ill- treatment which in some cases may amount to torture,” the London- based rights watchdog said in a report.
The EU- sponsored “hotspot approach” for processing people — which requires Italy to fingerprint new arrivals so they can be prevented from claiming asylum elsewhere — has even seen minors abused, according to testimony from more than 170 migrants.
Some migrants do not want to be fingerprinted as they hope to continue on to an EU- nation of their choosing and apply for asylum.
The allegations of violence were swiftly denied by chief of police Franco Gabrielli.
“I categorically deny that violent methods were used against migrants, either during their identification pro- cess or repatriation,” he said.
Last year, Europe saw an influx of more than 1 million migrants and asylum seekers fleeing war and poverty in its worst such crisis since World War II.
“In their determination to reduce the onward movement of refugees and migrants to other member states, EU leaders have driven the Italian authorities to the limits — and beyond — of what is legal,” said Matteo de Bellis, Amnesty International’s Italy Researcher.
“The result i s that traumatised people, arriving in Italy after harrowing journeys, are being subjected to flawed assessments and in some instances appalling abuse at the hands of the police, as well as unlawful expulsions,” he was quoted as saying.
Of the 24 reports of ill- treatment Amnesty gathered, 16 involved beatings.
In several cases, people also said they had been given electric shocks with stun batons, including a 16- yearold boy from Sudan.
“They gave me electricity with a stick, many times on the left leg, then on right leg, chest and belly. I was too weak, I couldn’t resist and at that point they took both my hands and put them on the machine,” he was quoted as saying.
Another 16- year- old said police had inflicted pain on his genitals.
The NGO said that while the vast majority of fingerprinting takes place without incident, the findings of this report raise “serious concerns” and it called for an independent review of the situation.