As a consequence to the occurrences on the 21th of october Sea-Watch is pressing charges against the members involved of the Libyan coastguard because of an attack to a rubber boat with 150 refugees on board, of which four are dead and most probably 15-25 more victims.
On the 21th of october a boat from the Libyan coast guard boarded a fully occupied rubber boat, 14,5 nautical miles from the Libyan coast, during a rescue mission. They hit migrants with sticks and kept our crew from distributing life jackets and continuing in the process of support. The violent behaviour of the assumed Libyan coast guard caused a mass panic; all of the 150 passengers fell into the water and a two-digit number drowned. Our crew was able to salvage four dead people. Four unconscious people were medically treated on our ship. 120 migrants could be rescued to our ship. The approach of the Libyan coast guard let to the death of many refugees.
Since the 24 of october the Libyan coast guard is trained by the European military mission EUNAVFOR Med. The training is currently on two ships of the European military mission EUNAVFOR Med/Sophia, announces the European External Action Service (EEAS) in october. It cannot be ruled out that the soldiers involved in the incident of the 21 october are now part of the 78-person team trained on the two European ships. By cooperating with Libya, the EU is supporting the violation of human rights, such as illegal repatriation of boats that made it to the sea, which is often practised by the Libyan coast guard. This is happening in contradiction to the IMO SAR convention, not ratified by Libya, however ratified by the member states of the EU
“According to §315c StGB someone is sentenced to at least 5 years, who uses violent or attacks the decision-making of a person or performs other kind of machinations, to gain the power over a ship, used in the civil maritime traffic, or to act on the boats leadership.
A rubber boat count as a ship used in the civil maritime traffic. Is the delinquent causing inconsiderately the death of another human, the sentence will be a life imprisonment or an imprisonment for at least 10 years.
Furthermore the principle of universal jurisdiction, § 6 Nr. 3 StGB, is counting so that the crime is punishable no matter the citizenship of the delinquent or victim.”
