Autor/Autorin
On 22 July, the Italian authorities inspected the ship of the civilian sea rescue organisation „SOS Méditerranée“ for 11 hours in the port of Porto Empedocle in Sicily and then detained it indefinitely. For „SOS Méditerranée“, this is a „new level of harassment by the authorities with the aim of blocking the life-saving operations of civilian sea rescue ships“.
The non-governmental organisation indignantly rejects the pretended safety deficiencies and the statement that the ship was carrying more than the 42 people stated in the certificate for the equipment of cargo ships. The latter justification exposes a cynicism that is difficult to surpass. The „Ocean Viking“ is not a passenger ship, but is committed to the law of the sea, namely to rescue all people in distress at sea and bring them to a safe harbour. Any action to the contrary would be a criminal offence in the sense of failing to render assistance at sea.
The crew of the „Ocean Viking“ had brought 180 people rescued from distress at sea to the safe harbour of Porto Empedocle after waiting nine days for permission from the Italian authorities to enter the port. The refugees were transferred to a quarantine ship and the crew of the „Ocean Viking“ were quarantined on their ship. The plan was to set sail again at the end of the quarantine. However, the authorities prevented this with their instructions.
In fact, the practice is by no means new: since 2017, the authorities in Malta and Italy have taken it in turns to chain up all civilian sea rescue ships, sometimes not allowing them to set sail again at all, sometimes only with a delay. The detention of the „Ocean Viking“ means that there are currently no civilian rescue ships operating in the central Mediterranean.
The International League for Human Rights honoured SOS Méditerranée with the Carl von Ossietzky Medal in 2016 „for its high and dangerous commitment to the right to life and its civil society commitment to human rights and human dignity“. At that time, SOS Méditerranée saved thousands of lives on the „Aquarius“, and today the donor-funded successor ship „Ocean Viking“ must not be prevented from resuming its fight against death in the Mediterranean.
The League appeals to the European Union, of which Germany currently holds the presidency, to finally take effective and human rights-compliant measures to put an end to the scandalous, inhumane „cause of death of refugees“ that has been going on for many years.
The League expresses its unreserved solidarity with SOS Méditerranée and urgently appeals for donations to ensure its humanitarian rescue operations.