IUVENTA CASE DISMISSED? WAR CRIMES IN UKRAINE.

Civilian sea rescue is not a crime – and never was. The prosecution requests to drop the charges in the Iuventa case

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MARCH 2024 | NEWSLETTER 96

Since 2016, the civilian sea rescue team of the Iuventa ship has fought against Italy’s campaign to incriminate them for their life-saving work in the Mediterranean. But in an unexpected turn of events, the prosecution requested for the charges to be dropped.

We also provided legal analysis for research by the Center for Spatial Technologies and Forensis that indicates Russian forces deliberately targeted a theater building in Mariupol, Ukraine, which functioned as a shelter for hundreds of civilians. This attack likely amounts to a crime against humanity.

Learn more about these cases and others in this newsletter.

The ECCHR Team

Iuventa crew and supporters in front of the Trapani Court after the prosecution presented its request. The judge will give his final decision on 19 April. © Ben Cowles

Prosecution requests to drop charges against sea rescue crew

In a surprising reversal at the end of the almost two-year preliminary-hearing phase, the prosecution requested for the charges of “facilitating irregular entry” of migrants and refugees into Italy to be dropped. While the prosecution’s shift is a relief for the Iuventa crew, their line of argumentation was highly problematic: they did not admit that no criminal conduct had occurred, but only that the defendants’ intent could not be sufficiently proven.

In response, the Iuventa defense team vehemently argued that the entry of rescued individuals into Italy should be considered lawful under any circumstances and called on the court to recognize the legality of the crew’s actions and dismiss the case. They also joined a motion requesting the court to compel the prosecution to investigate the misleading nature of the allegations made against the Iuventa crew. The judge will issue his final decision in the longest preliminary hearing process in the history of the Court of Trapani on 19 April 2024.

The crew was also shocked at what they perceive to be either incompetence or ill intentions on the part of the prosecution. With a more thorough investigation earlier on, the crew would likely have never been charged. The last seven years have not only been immensely stressful for the crew – thousands of people on the move have also died at sea. As Iuventa defendant Sascha Girke says: “The Iuventa should never have been confiscated, and people should not have been left to die. Now, the court in Trapani has the opportunity to halt the toxic impact of this criminalization of solidarity.”

More about the case

INTERNATIONAL CRIMES AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Virtual model of Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater before (left) and after (right) the airstrike. © The Center for Spatial Technologies

Mariupol, Ukraine: The bombing of a “city within a building”

On 16 March 2022, the Mariupol Drama Theater was hit in what was most likely an airstrike by the Russian Air Force. Potentially hundreds were killed in the blast, as the building had served as a massive civilian shelter prior to the attack. After Russian forces took control of Mariupol, they actively sought to erase evidence of the strike. In response, the Center for Spatial Technologies (CST) worked with Forensis to collect and analyze thousands of photos, videos and social media posts and record more than 100 hours of interviews with survivors, in order to reconstruct the spatial world of the theater and its destruction. The research indicates that the attack deliberately targeted civilians, which would constitute a war crime and – in light of systematic airstrikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Mariupol since March 2022 – potentially a crime against humanity. ECCHR provided legal analysis for the project and is also supporting survivors in their efforts to hold the perpetrators accountable. The film A CITY WITHIN A BUILDING: The Russian airstrike on the Mariupol Drama Theater, which documents the efforts to reconstruct the airstrike, was shown at the Kyiv Biennale.

More about the case and CST’s spatial research

Watch the film

A renewed call to investigate sexual violence in Ukraine

In June 2023, ECCHR and ULAG submitted a criminal complaint in Germany against two Russian soldiers and two of their commanders in support of a Ukrainian survivor of sexual violence. While German authorities did include this information in the structural investigation on Ukraine, they refused to initiate person-specific investigations into the named suspects. They argued that this would not provide added value because Ukraine was already investigating the soldiers, and their commanders may not have been able to foresee the attack. We disagree and, thus, submitted a counterstatement. This attack is not only a war crime; it must also be prosecuted as a crime against humanity – which German law allows for, and Ukrainian law does not. German authorities may also potentially prosecute the commanders under the principle of command responsibility because the facts indicate that they indeed anticipated the crimes committed. Moreover, by issuing its own arrest warrants, Germany can increase the likelihood of bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Our Q&A on the counterstatement

More about the case

BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Edeka is still deceiving consumers with sustainability seal

With foodwatch, we submitted a complaint in January under the Unfair Competition Act against the German supermarket chain Edeka, warning them to either remove the deceptive RSPO label from their palm oil products or stop selling them. As the retailer has thus far failed to act on the warning, foodwatch filed a lawsuit against Edeka at the Karlsruhe Regional Court for violation of the prohibition of misleading advertising.

More about the case

Hearing on EDF’s wind farm in Mexico

The civil lawsuit filed by Mexican indigenous community Unión Hidalgo against Electricité de France (EDF) in 2020 enters its next stage before the Paris Court of Appeals. Their case is the first to claim the violation of indigenous and collective rights under French Duty of Vigilance Law. The hearing will finally determine if the case can proceed to a judicial assessment of whether EDF has complied with its obligation under French Duty of Vigilance Law.

More about the case

Supply “chain reactions”: Pakistani unions and German companies meet face to face

In January, a year after the German Supply Chain Act (LkSG) came into force, our long-standing partners from Pakistani trade unions, Zehra Khan (HBWWF) and Nasir Mansoor (NTUF), came to Germany to discuss how human rights are still not respected in the value chains of German companies. They spoke with authorities, ministries, parliamentarians, civil society and trade unions about the role the LkSG could play in improving working conditions in the Pakistani textile industry. Notably, after 40 years of trade union work in Pakistan, Nasir Mansoor for the first time sat at the same table with representatives of German companies whose Pakistani suppliers violate labor rights. These companies are now finally prepared to speak with local trade unions about the concerns of workers and to discuss possible solutions. This is a direct result of the new law.

More info here and here

Civilian sea rescue is not a crime – and never was.

For years, ECCHR has supported the Iuventa crew throughout these difficult proceedings in Italy. We now hope to see the swift dismissal of the case – and the affirmation by the court that rescuing people in distress at sea is not a crime!

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ECCHR

ECCHR 2023 Annual Report

In April, we will release our 2023 annual report. If you would like to receive a copy in print, please register at this email address: presse@ecchr.eu. You will also be able to access the digital version on our website.

We welcome new staff and trainees

Elisabeth Krämer joined the Institute for Legal Intervention as Coordinator of the Living Open Archive project

Andrea Pietra Fesa joined the Institute for Legal Intervention as Legal Advisor

Victoria Riello-Brakensiek joined the International Crimes and Accountability team as Coordinator for ECCHR within the Global Initiative Against Impunity

Falk Matthies joined the Border Justice team as a trainee

Giuliano Cardenio joined the International Crimes and Accountability team as a trainee

PAST EVENTS

Diverse landscapes, instead of silent ones

On 18 February at Spore Initiative in Berlin, ECCHR’s Christian Schliemann-Radbruch joined a panel discussion on the fight against pesticides and chemical colonialism and developing agro-ecological alternatives – with Julia Bar-Tal (Director, Working Group for Rural Agriculture Northeast), Matthias Wolfschmidt (Aurelia Foundation) and Ximena Ramos Pedrueza Ceballos (lawyer for environmental rights, Mexico).

Re:Borders. An indictment

As part of an exhibition at Kunstquartier Bethanien in Berlin on 1 March, which addressed current migration policy and discourse in the EU, ECCHR’s Wolfgang Kaleck joined Deniz Neselovskyi (Statefree) and Chiara Wettmann (photographer and journalist) for the panel discussion: “Human Rights in the Global Age.”

Voices for Afrin: The overlooked atrocities in Syria

On 6 March, ECCHR and Maxim Gorki Theater brought together a panel of experts, including Sabiha Khalil, Patrick Kroker, Erkan Pehlivan and Kristin Helberg, to discuss the political situation in Afrin and the ongoing battle for justice fought by those affected. The event also featured music by Wassim Mukdad and Neroda Mohamad.

Watch the footage

Streitraum: War and criminal justice

At the Schaubühne in Berlin on 10 March, ECCHR’s Director of the International Crimes and Accountability program Andreas Schüller joined Carolin Emcke and Marija Ristic (Journalist and Manager of the International Crisis Reponse Program of Amnesty International) to discuss how to counter impunity in conflict scenarios through international law.

Watch the footage

FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE

The world can only be just when human rights are universally recognized and guaranteed for everyone. This is what we are fighting for across the globe:
with those affected, with partners, with legal means.
Thank you for helping us in our efforts to make this happen.

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