On January 30, in Crotone (Italy), the trial of 6 Italian officers for a 2023 shipwreck in which at least 94 people lost their lives, including 25 minors,started , following a postponement and an investigation of more than 2 years.

The parties to the case include 65 survivors and 6 search-and-rescue organizations (EMERGENCY, Louise Michel, Mediterranea Saving Humans, Sea-Watch, SOS Humanity, and SOS MEDITERRANEE)

The case involves February 23, 2023 delayed rescue operations for a migrant boat sinking off the coast of Steccato di Cutro in Calabria, southern Italy. The 6 Italian officers involved are 2 Italian Coast Guards officers and 4 Customs Police officers (Guardia di Finanzia), accused of negligence resulting in a shipwreck and multiple counts of manslaughter. The boat is believed to have carried between 180 and 250 people, most from Afghanistan, Syria and Pakistan, out of which only 80 survived. 

The EU border agency, Frontex had alerted Italian authorities hours before the ship sank. However, despite indications of distress and visible evidence of the ship sinking, Italian authorities did not activate a search-and-rescue operation. 

Judith Sunderland, acting deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch said “The Cutro shipwreck trial is a crucial opportunity to secure truth and justice for survivors and families of victims, and to help avoid future deaths,” and “It is not only the individual officers who are on trial, but also Italian state policies that prioritize deterring and criminalizing asylum seekers and migrants over saving lives.”

The European Court of Human Rights has underlined that, due to Italy being a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, is bound by obligations under the right to life, to take steps to safeguard the lives of those within its jurisdiction. That includes timely rescue responses when lives are at risk.

Furthermore, Italian authorities have obligations stemming from the International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea and the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue to act upon situations of distress at sea.