Press briefing notes: European Court of Human Rights judgment on migrants and Togo

Acting Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Ravina Shamdasani
Location: Geneva
Date: 24 February 2012

(1) European Court of Human Rights judgment on migrants

We welcome the judgment issued yesterday (Thursday) by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that it is a violation of human rights for a State to collectively expel migrants who are intercepted on the high seas. The case reaffirms the human rights of all migrants at sea.

The Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Hirsi Jamaa and others v. Italy concerned 13 Eritrean and 11 Somali migrants who were picked up in 2009 by Italian Customs and Coastguard vessels outside Italian territorial waters, 35 nautical miles south of Lampedusa, transferred to Italian military vessels and taken directly to Tripoli to be handed over to Libyan authorities.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had submitted a legal brief in this case, arguing that the prohibition of collective expulsion in international law also applies when a State intercepts migrants outside of its own territorial waters. The UN Refugee Agency also intervened in the case.

The Court confirmed this position, ruling that the transfer of the applicants to Libya under the conditions at the time violated the prohibition of torture because it exposed the applicants to the risk of arbitrary return to their countries of origin. The Court also ruled that the transfer violated the prohibition of collective expulsion of foreign nationals.

We call on all States to recognize and respect the fundamental rights of all migrants, guaranteed by international law, regardless of their immigration status or other status. We have long expressed alarm at the interception and collective expulsion of migrants, often risking their lives, on the high seas, without the opportunity for an individual examination of their cases.

We urge States to avoid making migration policies based on assumptions about the motivations of migrants which are based on their country of nationality or of departure, their gender, age or their ethnicity, and instead to put in place procedures premised on the protection of the human rights of all migrants.

We also welcome discussions about the revision of Italian immigration policies in light of this judgment by the European Court.

(2) Togo

We welcome the release of the report by the national human rights commission of Togo (Commission Nationale des Droits de l’Homme) into allegations of torture committed against individuals detained in connection with the alleged coup d’etat in the country in 2009.

The report has found that the prisoners were subject to physical and moral violence of an inhuman and degrading nature, and recommends appropriate action against the perpetrators, reparation for victims and institutional reform of the Agence Nationale de Renseignement, which is the national intelligence agency.

We note the Government’s commitment to implementing the recommendations of this report and encourage them to take all necessary measures to ensure justice and reparation for the victims and to prevent such acts from occurring in the future. Detention facilities should be subject to transparent judicial monitoring.

We also call on the Government to continue to guarantee the independence of the national human rights commission and to ensure that human rights defenders are able to carry out their work without intimidation.

ENDS

The amicus brief by the UN Human Rights office on this case can be found here: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Migration/Pages/StudiesAndReports.aspx

The judgment of the European Court can be found here: http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?item=1&portal=hbkm&action=html&highlight=hirsi&sessionid=87042900&skin=hudoc-en

The report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of migrants and asylum seekers fleeing recent events in North Africa can be accessed at the following link: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Migration/Pages/StudiesAndReports.aspx

For more information or media requests, please contact Ravina Shamdasani (+ 41 22 917 9310 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org) or Xabier Celaya (+41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org).

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