EU rights court says Italy not responsible for Libyan coast guard actions over migrant boat sinking
Judges at the European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that Italy could not be held liable for the actions of the Libyan Coast Guard, rejecting a case brought by a group of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in a fatal boat sinking in 2017.
The Strasbourg court declared the case inadmissible, finding Italy did not have 'effective control' of the expanse of waters off the coast of Tripoli where a small ship carrying some 150 people sank in 2017.
Twenty people died in the incident. Around 45 survivors onboard the ship said they were taken to Tajura Detention Center in Tripoli where they were beaten and abused.
The judges found that the captain and crew of the Libyan vessel Ras Jadir had acted independently when they answered a distress signal in the early morning hours on Nov. 6.
Italy has supplied the Libyans with funding, vessels and training as part of an agreement to slow the tide of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. The judges found, however, that this support did not prove 'Italy had taken over Libya's public-authority powers.'
A group of migrants was rescued by the humanitarian organization Sea Watch and were taken to Italy.
A ruling in favor of the 14 survivors who filed the complaint at the ECHR could have undermined international agreements made by several European Union countries with Libya, Turkey and others to prevent migrants from coming to European shores.
The ECHR handles complaints against the 46 member states of the Council of Europe. The intergovernmental organization is not an EU institution and was set up after the Second World War to promote peace and democracy.
___
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Keir Starmer reiterates need to ‘de-escalate' Israel-Iran conflict
Sir Keir Starmer has reiterated the need to 'de-escalate' the conflict between Israel and Iran as the diplomatic push to calm tensions continues. The Prime Minister spoke to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, on Saturday afternoon, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy was expected to spend the day in talks with counterparts across the Middle East and elsewhere. It comes after Iran launched retaliatory attacks against Israel overnight. A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir and the Crown Prince spoke on Saturday afternoon. According to a read-out of the conversation issued by Number 10, 'they discussed the gravely concerning situation in the Middle East and agreed on the need to de-escalate'. 'The Prime Minister updated on his conversations with partners so far, and reiterated that the UK is poised to work closely with its allies in the coming days to support a diplomatic resolution.' The Foreign Secretary was due to be briefed by officials on Saturday on the developments overnight, and was expected to speak to figures in the Middle East and elsewhere through the day. It comes after Mr Lammy had conversations with representatives from Iran, Jordan and Saudi Arabia as well as European foreign ministers on Friday. Iranian state media said Tehran has warned the US, the UK and France not to help Israel stop Iran's strikes, according to reports on Saturday. Iran launched missile and drone strikes on Israel overnight after a series of Israeli attacks on the heart of Tehran's nuclear programme and armed forces. Tehran's UN ambassador said 78 people had been killed and more than 320 wounded in Israel's attacks, while Tehran's response was said to have killed at least three and wounded dozens. Speaking to broadcasters on Friday evening, Mr Lammy said: 'I spoke to my Iranian counterpart today to urge restraint at this time and calm. I recognise that this is a moment of grave peril in the Middle East.' Sir Keir and US President Donald Trump called for 'diplomacy and dialogue' in a call on Friday, amid a diplomatic flurry from western nations to try to calm the conflict. Sir Keir had earlier urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate and work towards a 'diplomatic resolution'. A Cobra meeting of high-level ministers was convened on Friday afternoon to discuss the situation. The same is not expected on Saturday but Whitehall officials were expected to be meeting. The conflict was ignited by early morning Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear bases on Friday. Israel said the barrage was necessary before Iran got any closer to building a nuclear weapon, although experts and the US government have assessed that Tehran was not actively working on such a weapon. Iran retaliated with waves of drones and ballistic missiles, with explosions lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Sir Keir is set for discussions with other world leaders at the G7 summit in Canada next week. Tensions between Israel, the US and Iran have escalated in recent weeks, amid negotiations over the Iranian nuclear deal, which is aimed at preventing the country from developing nuclear weapons.
4 hours ago
As Trump goes to G7 summit, other world leaders aim to show they're not intimidated
WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has long bet that he can scare allies into submission — a gamble that is increasingly being tested ahead of the Group of Seven summit beginning Monday in Canada. He's threatened stiff tariffs in the belief that other nations would crumple. He's mused about taking over Canada and Greenland. He's suggested he will not honor NATO's obligations to defend partners under attack. And he's used Oval Office meetings to try to intimidate the leaders of Ukraine and South Africa. But many world leaders see fewer reasons to be cowed by Trump, even as they recognize the risks if he followed through on his threats. They believe he will ultimately back down — since many of his plans could inflict harm on the U.S. — or that he can simply be charmed and flattered into cooperating. 'Many leaders still seem intimidated by Trump, but increasingly they are catching on to his pattern of bullying,' said Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. 'In places as diverse as Canada, Iran, China and the EU, we are seeing increasing signs that leaders now recognize that Trump is afraid of anything resembling a fair fight. And so they are increasingly willing to stand up to him.' In the 22 instances in which Trump has publicly threatened military action since his first term, the U.S. only used force twice, according to a May analysis by Shapiro. Ahead of the G7 summit, there are already signs of subtle pushback against Trump from fellow leaders in the group. French President Emanuel Macron planned to visit Greenland over the weekend in a show of European solidarity. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said the U.S. is no longer the 'predominant' force in the world after Trump's tariffs created fissures in a decades-long partnership between the U.S. and its northern neighbor. 'We stood shoulder to shoulder with the Americans throughout the Cold War and in the decades that followed, as the United States played a predominant role on the world stage," Carney said this past week in French. "Today, that predominance is a thing of the past.' The new prime minister added that with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the U.S. became the global hegemon, a position of authority undermined by Trump's transactional nature that puts little emphasis on defending democratic values or the rule of law. 'Now the United States is beginning to monetize its hegemony: charging for access to its markets and reducing its relative contributions to our collective security,' Carney said. Israel's attack on Iran has added a new wrinkle to the global picture as the summit leaders gather to tackle some of the world's thorniest problems A senior Canadian official said it was decided early on that the G7 won't be issuing a joint communiqué as it has at past summits — an indication of how hard it can be to get Trump on the same page with other world leaders. The White House said individual leader statements will be issued on the issues being discussed. Speaking last month at a conference in Singapore, Macron called France a 'friend and an ally of the United States' but pushed back against Trump's desire to dominate what other countries do. Macron said efforts to force other nations to choose between the U.S. and China would lead to the breakdown of the global order put in place after World War II. 'We want to cooperate, but we do not want to be instructed on a daily basis what is allowed, what is not allowed, and how our life will change because of the decision of a single person,' Macron said. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pushed back against Trump's agenda of levying higher tariffs on imported goods, arguing it would hurt economic growth. The Japanese leader specifically called Trump ahead of the summit to confirm their plans to talk on the sidelines, which is a greater focus for Japan than the summit itself. 'I called him as I also wanted to congratulate his birthday, though one day earlier,' Ishiba said. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the summit was an opportunity for Trump to 'mend' relationships with other countries so China would be unable to exploit differences among the G7. She said other foreign leaders are 'not intimidated' by Trump's actions, which could be driving them away from tighter commitments with the U.S. 'The conversations that I've had with those leaders suggest that they think that the partnership with the United States has been really important, but they also understand that there are other opportunities,' Shaheen said. The White House did not respond to emailed questions for this story. Having originally made his reputation in real estate and hospitality, Trump has taken kindly to certain foreign visitors, such as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Starmer has sought to keep Trump in line with Europe in supporting Ukraine and NATO instead of brokering any truces that would favor Russia. He has echoed the president's language about NATO members spending more on defense. But in his Oval Office visit, Starmer also pleased Trump by delivering an invite for a state visit from King Charles III. The German government said it, too, wanted to send a public signal of unity, saying that while Trump's recent meeting with Merz at the White House went harmoniously, the next test is how the relationship plays out in a team setting. There will also be other world leaders outside of the G7 nations attending the summit in mountainous Kananaskis, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom Trump dressed down in the Oval Office. Italy's Meloni has positioned herself as a 'bridge' between the Trump administration and the rest of Europe. But Italy's strong support of Ukraine and Trump's threatened tariffs on European goods have put Meloni, the only European leader to attend Trump's inauguration, in a difficult position. Mark Sobel, U.S. chair of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, an independent think tank, said Trump's 'trade policies, backing for right wing European movements, seeming preference for dealing with authoritarians and many of his other actions are alienating our G7 allies,' even if the U.S. president is correct that Europe needs to do more on defense. But even as other G7 leaders defuse any public disputes with Trump, the U.S. president's vision for the world remains largely incompatible with they want. 'In short, behind the curtains, and notwithstanding whatever theater, the Kananaskis summit will highlight a more fragmented G7 and an adrift global economy," Sobel said.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Starmer's latest freebie: British sovereignty in exchange for nothing
While we can't rely on the French to help police the Channel – despite paying them £500 million for the privilege, we can always trust our Gallic cousins to bear a grudge. We already knew that the Prime Minister's great EU 'reset' was a sham; that much was clear when all we got in return was the use of e-gates that were already operational in many European countries. Now, we learn that we may not even be granted access to the bloc's industrial defence programme, despite Sir Keir Starmer's insistence that defence and security was a central tenet of the deal. As he boasted last month after selling us out to Brussels: 'We've also struck a new defence and security partnership to strengthen our cooperation and strengthen our security – which is vital in this dangerous new era. 'And it will open the door to working with the EU's new defence fund – providing new opportunities for our defence industry, supporting British jobs and livelihoods.' Except, of course, the French have other ideas. In yet another example of just how bad Labour is at negotiating anything (see also the Chagos surrender and, more recently, the 'deal' to allow Spanish border guards to check passports on Gibraltar) we now learn that Emmanuel Macron is trying to shut out British arms firms from the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). While different to the defence fund, which is known as SAFE (Security Action for Europe), EDIP will see cash pumped into joint procurement projects and the production of weapons, ammunition and other military hardware. It was created for the benefit of the EU and 'allies' but French diplomats have insisted the tool should be solely used to boost firms based inside the EU, as well as Norway and Ukraine – shutting out the UK. So much for Starmer's boast that the reset deal would put Britain 'back on the world stage' and give us 'unprecedented access to the EU market, the best of any country.' Labour is yet to reveal how many billions is being squandered on a reset that has already prompted another big fat 'non' from Paris. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
