The bunker room of the Ucciardone prison will host a new hearing of this judicial process in which the founder and director of Open Arms, Oscar Camps is called to testify. Other witnesses called are Dr. Oliva and Dr. Pellegrino, of the Italian Navy; the consultants cited by the Public Ministry, Engineer Magazzù and Engineer Megna; two experts requested by the Defense; Dr. Vittorio Alessandro, former Coast Guard spokesman and Dr. Sandro Gallinelli, retired Rear Admiral.
It will be a particularly important hearing, not only because it is being held a few days after two shipwrecks off the Italian coast, which deeply shocked public opinion and returned the issue to the front pages of all the international media, but also because it will be an opportunity to better understand what the Law that regulates maritime rescue establishes, what have been and are today the obligations of governments and ships at sea, as well as the deficiencies and inefficiencies that continue to characterize the conduct of the authorities.
It should be remembered that in the previous hearings a worrying event was revealed that occurred during those days of August 2019: the Venuti submarine of the Italian Navy was in the vicinity of the solidarity organization’s vessel during the first rescue operations carried out for the Open Arms. Instead of intervening and coordinating or supporting the rescuers, the submarine crew limited themselves to filming the operation to collect useful material for an unknown purpose, according to Open Arms in a statement. The Open Arms legal team has denounced the crew and the captain of the Italian military submarine for failing to provide assistance.
In the words of Óscar Camps, director of Open Arms: “It is no longer a question of the lack of human principles and values, nor of the degree of manipulation of some media. It is important to make clear the ilk of some recidivist politicians who have obvious responsibilities for the latest deaths “
Reconstructing the events of those days will therefore be useful to better understand the chain of responsibilities that in recent years has turned the Mediterranean into the largest mass grave in the world. The white coffins that have been seen lined up in the Palamilone di Cutro represent those of all the boys and girls, women and men who lie at the bottom of the sea and of whom no trace remains. They are the emblem of years of massacres, the product of precise political decisions that we strongly condemn.
This trial will be an opportunity, at the discretion of the organization, to judge these dark years of European democratic history. In that very symbolic room, Open Arms will ideally represent the names and faces of all the people who lost their lives at sea and all those they led. to save themselves and build a life in peace.
Since 2014, more than 26,000 people have lost their lives in the Central Mediterranean due to the deliberate inaction of the European institutions, the lack of government search and rescue operations, criminal agreements made with illiberal and unstable countries where they are violated systematically human rights and life.
We will defend, the NGO points out, once again everyone’s right to live, to choose, to move freely, to protect themselves and their loved ones. Above all, “we will defend and protect the inviolable rights of every human being and we will demand compliance with the duties of solidarity and justice.”
