The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday accused Italy of violating the rights of migrants held in ships on Lampedusa by detaining them without clear and accessible legal basis.
The court examined the case of three young men from Tunisia who had been held at a reception centre on Lampedusa in 2011 before being deported back to Tunisia.
After their boats were intercepted by the Italian Coast Guard, the three men were taken to a reception centre.
A violent revolt broke out at the centre and it was set on fire.
Two days later, the men were taken to ships near Palermo, where they were kept before being flown back to their country.
The men claimed that their treatment was a violation of their rights to liberty and security.
They called for speedy decision on the lawfulness of their detention; to be informed of the reasons for deprivation of their liberty; and effective remedy.
They said that the acts were contrary to prohibitions on collective expulsion of aliens and on inhuman or degrading treatment.
The court ruled that there had been violations of the first four rights, but said there had been no violation of the two prohibitions.
It said that the Italian government drew attention to bilateral agreement between it and Tunisia as the legal basis for the detention of the migrants.
The court however said that the full text of the agreement had not been made public.
It also referred to a Senate commission and a Council of Europe report underscoring the need to clarify the legal basis for holding migrants.
It said that migrants could not have been informed of the reasons for their detention since it had “no clear and accessible legal basis in Italian law.”
The ECHR was established to oversee the European Convention of Human Rights, adopted by the 47-member Council of Europe.
The court is not an European Union institution. (dpa/NAN)