INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
Nigerian boat migrants seek redress from Italy
Seventeen plaintiffs charge that Italy violated multiple articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, including that people not be subjected to torture
Rome — Nigerian migrants who survived a deadly sea crossing last year filed a lawsuit against Italy for violating their rights by supporting Libya’s efforts to return them to North Africa, their lawyers said on Tuesday. Seventeen plaintiffs petitioned the European Court of Human Rights last week, Violeta Moreno-Lax, a legal adviser for the Global Legal Action Network, told reporters. She is among four lawyers and several humanitarian groups involved in the case. The migrants say Italy violated multiple articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, including that people not be subjected to torture, held in slavery or have their lives put in danger. The UN, rights groups and news organisations say migrants face these conditions in Libya. This is the first lawsuit to be filed against Italy for its decision to back the Libyan coast guard. The country lost a case in the same court in 2012 for directly handing over migrants intercepted at sea to the Libyan authorities. Legal proces...
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