14. Juni, 17:00 — 19:00
Sea rescue now!
Workshop in English language
The life-threatening and often times deadly flight across the Mediterranean is one of Europe’s open wounds.
However, Member States are trying to sanction and criminalize those individuals who specififically engage themselves to save people from drowning.
Italy plays a central role in this matter. In the first part of the workshop, the criminal and regulatory prosecution of people accused of smuggling in Italy will be presented.
Francesca Cancellaro has already represented clients before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the so-called “Kinsa case” (formerly Kinshasa, C-460/23). The case concerns O.B., a Congolese woman who arrived at Bologna airport in August 2019 with forged passports. She traveled to Italy with her 8-year-old daughter and her 13-year-old niece to apply for asylum. On arrival, O.B. was separated from the two minors and accused of aiding and abetting unauthorized entry. She faces a prison sentence of up to five years.
In the second part of the workshop, the proposal for an EU-led rescue program “mare solidale” in the central Mediterranean will be presented, https://sos-humanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2024-seawatch_adv-mare_solidale-DE.pdf.
According to data from the Italian Navy, Operation Mare Nostrum – which took place from January 1st to October 31st in 2014 – carried out 439 search and rescue (SAR) missions in just ten months and rescued more than 156,000 people in distress at sea. This program was financed and operated by Italy at a cost of around 9 million euros per month. The resources deployed included two frigates, four deep-sea patrol vessels, six coastal patrol vessels, six helicopters and three additional aircrafts. Around 700 to 1,000 people were involved in the operation. In the first half of 2014, when Mare Nostrum was still in operation, only 17 people died while crossing the Mediterranean. In the same period the following year, after the program was discontinued, the death toll increased to at least 900. Italy terminated the operation after no other EU country agreed to make a financial contribution or take in any of the rescued people (quoted from Seawatch).
In the third part, we will use the Kinsa case as an example to discuss the compatibility of the EU legal framework for criminalizing the facilitation of unauthorized immigration with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. We will also discuss which legal and political measures are necessary in order to prevent deaths at sea. “The Kinsa case off offers a unique opportunity to challenge the so-called crime of solidarity that has targeted so many refugees and activists
over the last 20 years” (Francesca Cancellaro). “This over-criminalization seriously harms fundamental human rights and must be reversed.”
Input
Francesca Cancellaro, defense lawyer from Italy
N.N., ECCHR
Facilitation: Berenice Böhlo
Workshop in English language
The life-threatening and often times deadly flight across the Mediterranean is one of Europe’s open wounds.
However, Member States are trying to sanction and criminalize those individuals who specififically engage themselves to save people from drowning.
Italy plays a central role in this matter. In the first part of the workshop, the criminal and regulatory prosecution of people accused of smuggling in Italy will be presented.
Francesca Cancellaro has already represented clients before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the so-called “Kinsa case” (formerly Kinshasa, C-460/23). The case concerns O.B., a Congolese woman who arrived at Bologna airport in August 2019 with forged passports. She traveled to Italy with her 8-year-old daughter and her 13-year-old niece to apply for asylum. On arrival, O.B. was separated from the two minors and accused of aiding and abetting unauthorized entry. She faces a prison sentence of up to five years.
In the second part of the workshop, the proposal for an EU-led rescue program “mare solidale” in the central Mediterranean will be presented, https://sos-humanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2024-seawatch_adv-mare_solidale-DE.pdf.
According to data from the Italian Navy, Operation Mare Nostrum – which took place from January 1st to October 31st in 2014 – carried out 439 search and rescue (SAR) missions in just ten months and rescued more than 156,000 people in distress at sea. This program was financed and operated by Italy at a cost of around 9 million euros per month. The resources deployed included two frigates, four deep-sea patrol vessels, six coastal patrol vessels, six helicopters and three additional aircrafts. Around 700 to 1,000 people were involved in the operation. In the first half of 2014, when Mare Nostrum was still in operation, only 17 people died while crossing the Mediterranean. In the same period the following year, after the program was discontinued, the death toll increased to at least 900. Italy terminated the operation after no other EU country agreed to make a financial contribution or take in any of the rescued people (quoted from Seawatch).
In the third part, we will use the Kinsa case as an example to discuss the compatibility of the EU legal framework for criminalizing the facilitation of unauthorized immigration with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. We will also discuss which legal and political measures are necessary in order to prevent deaths at sea. “The Kinsa case off offers a unique opportunity to challenge the so-called crime of solidarity that has targeted so many refugees and activists
over the last 20 years” (Francesca Cancellaro). “This over-criminalization seriously harms fundamental human rights and must be reversed.”
Input
Francesca Cancellaro, defense lawyer from Italy
N.N., ECCHR
Facilitation: Berenice Böhlo
Änderungen am Programm und den Zeiten müssen evtl. noch vorgenommen werden – bitte flexibel bleiben.
Veranstalter sind der Republikanische Anwältinnen- und Anwälteverein e.V. (RAV) und die Werner-Holtfort-Stiftung. Wir danken dem Leipziger Strafverteidiger e.V. für die Unterstützung.