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UN arbitration court reportedly asks India to release Italian marine

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Salvatore Girone Massimilliano Latorre

Rome: A U.N. arbitration court has ruled that India should release an Italian marine, who has been detained in Delhi for more than four years, and allow him to return home, the Italian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

India in 2012 arrested two Italian marines on suspicion that they killed two fishermen that they had mistaken for pirates while they had been escorting an oil tanker. One of the pair returned to Italy with health problems, but India has refused to let the other man, Salvatore Girone, leave the country.

The case has soured relations between India and Italy, but the two countries agreed last year to move the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and abide by its decisions.

The Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that in an initial ruling, the court had decided that Girone should be allowed home. It said it would be in immediate contact with India to try to make sure he would return as soon as possible.

The court will continue to review the merits of the case against the two marines.

(Agencies)

UN Tribunal asks Italy, India to stop court proceedings on Italian marines

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Salvatore Girone Massimilliano Latorre

Hamburg /New Delhi: The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Monday asked India and Italy to suspend all court proceedings in the marines case. It has also asked both countries to submit reports by September 24.

The Tribunal also asserted its jurisdiction in the case. It maintained that the Italy’s action of filing appeal twice was wrong and unacceptable.

There were differences in the Tribunal regarding the case and it sought more time for a final judgement.

The Tribunal had examined which country has the power to try the two Italian marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone who have been charged with shooting dead two Indian fishermen in February 2012 off Kerala coast.

India had claimed that it could finish the trial in four months. Italy sought the intervention of the Tribunal based on a UN clause meant for solving issues occurred on seas between countries. Italy’s main argument is that the issue occurred in international waters at the time of the incident. Italy had also demanded that India “refrain from taking or enforcing any judicial or administrative measures” against the marines.

However, India rejected the request, arguing that the case is not a maritime dispute but “about a double murder at sea”, in which one fisherman was shot in the head and the other in the stomach. India alleged that Italy did not even fulfil the basic legal procedures to be followed in the country.

Salvatore Girone and Massimilliano Latorre were part of an anti-piracy mission allegedly fired shots in 2012 that killed two Indian fishermen on a boat off the coast of Kerala.

India detained the two marines days later and a court case is pending.

Massimiliano was last year allowed to temporarily return to Italy for medical treatment and is still there. Salvatore has been living at Italy’s embassy in New Delhi ever since.

(Agencies)

Aid group: 400 feared dead after migrant boat capsizes

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Italy’s coastguard rescued 144 from ship off Libya, but survivors tell Save the Children that hundreds were on board.

Coastguard helped rescue 144 people and launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of finding others [AP]

Coastguard helped rescue 144 people and launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of finding others [AP]

by Al Jazeera

Survivors of a capsized migrant boat off Libya have told the aid group Save the Children that an estimated 400 people are believed to have drowned.

The Italian coastguard had helped rescue 144 people on Monday and immediately launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of finding others.

“According to their stories, they all departed from Libya, more than 550 people on the same boat that capsized only 24 hours after they departed,” Carlotta Bellini, a Save the Children spokeswoman in Rome, told Al Jazera.

The coastguard said it assumed that there were many dead given the size of the ship and that nine bodies had been found.

The deaths, if confirmed, would add to the skyrocketing numbers of migrants lost at sea: The International Organization for Migration estimates that up to 3,072 migrants are believed to have died in the Mediterranean in 2014, compared to an estimate of 700 in 2013.

William Spindler, a specialist on asylum and refugee issues at the UNHCR, said that due to conflict in places like Syria and the Horn of Africa, the number of people trying to find safety in Europe has increased “enormously” since last year.

Spindler said that to end the tragedies at sea, people smuggling needs to be combated, and the capacity to rescue people at sea increased.

“At the same time we need to open the possibility for refugees to come legally to Europe so that they don’t need to take these dangerous journeys,” he told Al Jazeera.

“And very importantly, we need to help countries that are hosting the vast majority of refugees in the world, countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya … We need to make sure they can continue to keep refugees safe – because otherwise refugees will continue these journeys and risk their lives to find safety in Europe.”

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said Italy’s coastguard had saved about 8,500 migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean since Friday.

“Those rescued since last Friday included an estimated 3,000 people in four boats and 16 dinghies rescued on Monday,” the agency said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, the European Union’s top migration official said the EU must quickly adapt to the growing numbers of migrants trying to reach its shores.

“The unprecedented influx of migrants at our borders, and in particular refugees, is unfortunately the new norm and we will need to adjust our responses accordingly,” the EU’s commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told lawmakers in Brussels.

More than 280,000 people entered the European Union illegally last year. Many came from Syria, Eritrea and Somalia and made the perilous sea journey from conflict-torn Libya.

European coastguards have been overwhelmed by the numbers. Since the weather has begun to warm, even more people have been fleeing conflict and poverty, trying to reach Europe.

U.S. and allies threaten sanctions in Libya

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Libya has been in a state of upheaval since its former leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed three years ago. (AFP/File)

Libya has been in a state of upheaval since its former leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed three years ago. (AFP/File)

– by Al Bawaba

In a joint statement issued late Saturday by the governments of the US, UK, Germany, France and Italy, the group threatened sanctions against violent parties in Libya if a ceasefire and negotiation process is not implemented.

“We stand ready to use individual sanctions in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2174 against those who threaten the peace, stability or security of Libya or obstruct or undermine the political process,” the statement said.

The resolution was unanimously adopted by the five permanent members of the Security Council, and all 10 rotating members on August 27. It calls for an end to the fighting between the government and multiple rebel groups, an inclusive dialogue, and prior notice regarding weapons transfers.

In Saturday’s statement, the group said they “strongly condemn the ongoing violence in Libya and call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

“We are particularly dismayed that after meetings in Ghadames and Tripoli, parties have not respected calls for a ceasefire,” they noted.

“We condemn the crimes of Ansar al-Sharia entities, and the ongoing violence in communities across Libya, including Tripoli and its environs. Libya’s hard fought freedom is at risk if Libyan and international terrorist groups are allowed to use Libya as a safe haven,” the statement said.

“We are also concerned by (ex-military general) Khalifa Hifter’s attacks in Benghazi. We consider that Libya’s security challenges and the fight against terrorist organizations can only be sustainably addressed by regular armed forces under the control of a central authority, which is accountable to a democratic and inclusive parliament,” the group affirmed.

The five nations said they “fully support” the work of the UN’s Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), Bernardino Leon, “and urge all parties to cooperate with his efforts.” Leon is the head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which was established in 2011 “at the request of the Libyan authorities following six months of armed conflict to support the country’s new transitional authorities in their post-conflict efforts.

“After the Ghadames and Tripoli meetings, negotiations should be pursued with goodwill and adopting inclusive policies, with the aim of finding an agreement on the location of the House of Representatives elected last June 25th and laying the foundations for a Government of National Unity,” the group said.

“We agree that there is no military solution to the Libyan crisis,” they added. “We stress the importance that the international community acts in a united manner on Libya on the basis of the principles and understandings agreed at recent meetings, namely in New York and Madrid.”

The statement also warned against interference from outside parties, and urged “all partners to refrain from actions which might exacerbate current divisions in order to let Libyans address the current crisis within the framework of UN-facilitated talks.” According to UN figures, some 287,000 people have had to flee due to the fighting in and around the cities of Benghazi and Tripoli, leading to a “critical” humanitarian situation.

Libya has been in a state of upheaval since its former leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed three years ago.

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