The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on Italy to respect the dignity and humanity of Alfredo Cospito, currently under a 41bis regime and on hunger strike for 134 days.

The request by the High Commissioner for Human Rights was received on March 1 and was notified to the Italian government's representation in Geneva and to Cospito's defense attorney, Flavio Rossi Albertini, who had denounced his client's conditions of detention in an individual communication to the Human Rights Commission last February 25.

It was following the letter written by Cospito in prison, in which he declared that he was willing to die to make known to the world what 41 bis really is, that the UN reacted. Cospito, who is on hunger strike in prison, is not willing to compromise, and is willing to carry out his line to the bitter end, “not as blackmail”, he said, “but because this is not life”.

The UN Human Rights Committee has decided for the application of an interim measure to require Italy to ensure compliance with international standards and with Articles 7 (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and prohibition of subjecting, without free consent to medical or scientific experimentation) and 10 (humanity of treatment and respect for the human dignity of every person deprived of liberty) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in relation to Alfredo Cospito's detention conditions, pending a decision on the merits of the individual petition filed by Cospito.