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Loukachenko et Poutine affirment que les « problèmes » du Belarus seront résolus
▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/15/belarus-president-appeals-to-russia-as-pressure-grows-on-him-to-go-alex

#travailleurs_exposés #premiers_de_corvée #soignants

Extending ’Zero Tolerance’ To People Who Help Migrants Along The Border

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Arrests of people for harboring, sheltering, leaving food and water or otherwise protecting migrants have been on the rise since 2017, when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered federal prosecutors to prioritize cases covered under the harboring statute.

Scott Warren, a 36-year-old college geography instructor from Ajo, Ariz., works with a group called called No More Deaths or No Mas Muertes. The group’s volunteers leave water and food for migrants traversing the Arizona desert.

Warren was arrested in 2017 and faces three felony counts including conspiracy to transport and harbor migrants. In its complaint, the government claims Warren was seen talking to two migrants who sheltered in Ajo. He denies being part of any sheltering plan.

“It is scary to be intimidated like this and to be targeted but there really is no choice,” said Warren. He believes the government is violating his right to religious freedom by criminalizing his spiritual belief that mandates he help people in distress.

“For the government, it’s kind of been an expansion of the interpretation of what it means to harbor,” he suggested.

The stretch of desert near Ajo can be deadly. The Pima County Medical Examiner has documented 250 migrant deaths in the area since 2001. In the same time frame, thousands have died of dehydration and exposure in the Arizona borderlands.

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“It is life or death here. And a decision not to give somebody food or or water could lead to that person dying,” Warren said.

’Can I be compassionate?’

Nine and half hours away by car from Ajo, in the west Texas town of Marfa, another case is unfolding that pits the government against a four-time elected city and county attorney, Teresa Todd.

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She is under investigation for human smuggling after stopping to help three migrants alongside the road at night in February, 2019.

“I see a young man in a white shirt. He runs out toward the road where I am,” Todd recounted. She says the man was pleading for assistance. “I can’t just leave this guy on the side of the road. I have to go see if I can help.”

The young man told Todd that his sister, 18-year-old Esmeralda, was in trouble.

“I mean, she can hardly walk, she’s very dazed,” recalled Todd.

The migrants took shelter in Todd’s car while she called and texted a friend who is the legal counsel for the local U.S. Border Patrol, asking for advice. Before that friend could reply, a sheriff’s deputy showed up. The deputy called in the U.S. Border Patrol.

An agent was soon reading Todd her Miranda rights. Eight days later, a Department of Homeland Security investigator accompanied by a Texas Ranger arrived at Todd’s office with a search warrant for her cellphone. Todd says she was told she’d have the phone back in a matter of hours.

“It makes people have to question, ’Can I be compassionate’?”

Todd’s phone was returned 53 days later.

The sheriff of Presidio County, Danny Dominguez, whose deputy called the Border Patrol, defended the action against Todd. He said anyone with undocumented migrants in their car risks arrest.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the western district of Texas declined comment on Todd’s case.

Todd is unrepentant: “I feel like I did the right thing. I don’t feel I did anything wrong.”

Speaking by phone from the migrant detention center in Sierra Blanca, Texas, Esmeralda said of Todd, “I’m really grateful to her.” She said doctors told her she was on the brink of death by the time she got to the hospital.

Figures confirmed to NPR by TRAC, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, show that in fiscal year 2018 there were more than 4,500 people federally charged for bringing in and harboring migrants. That is a more than 30% increase since 2015, with the greatest rise coming after Sessions’ order to prioritize harboring cases.

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“With these prosecutions, the government is saying, ’we’re extending our zero tolerance policy to Good Samaritans,’” said Ranjana Natarajan, director of the Civil Rights Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law. “People shouldn’t be helping migrants even if they might be at threat of death.”

Accused of human smuggling

Ana Adlerstein, a U.S. citizen and volunteer at a Mexican migrant shelter, has her own story to tell. Earlier this month, Adlerstein accompanied a migrant seeking asylum from Sonora, Mexico to the U.S. border crossing at Lukeville, Ariz. Adlerstein was present to observe the process. Instead, she says she was detained by Customs and Border Protection officers for several hours.

“I was accused of human smuggling,” she stated.

Border officials had been forewarned that a migrant seeking asylum was coming that day, accompanied by a U.S. citizen. Under current law, once a migrant steps onto U.S. soil, he or she can request asylum.

“If that’s not how you’re supposed to seek asylum at a port of entry, how are you supposed to seek asylum in this country?” Adlerstein asked.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined comment on Adlerstein’s specific claims. In an email, a CBP spokesperson added:

“All persons entering the country, including U.S. citizens, are subject to examination and search. CBP uses diverse factors to refer individuals for selected examinations and there are instances when this process may take longer than normal. CBP is committed to ensuring the agency is able to execute its missions while protecting the human rights, civil rights, and dignity of those with whom we come in contact.”

Adlerstein has not been charged but has received subsequent calls from a DHS investigator.

In Texas, Teresa Todd is waiting to find out if she will be indicted for human smuggling.

As for Scott Warren, he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on all three felony counts, a prospect he can’t even contemplate.

▻https://www.npr.org/2019/05/28/725716169/extending-zero-tolerance-to-people-who-help-migrants-along-the-border?t=1559201
#statistiques #chiffres

Scott Warren Provided Food & Water to Migrants in Arizona; He Now Faces Up to 20 Years in Prison

An Arizona humanitarian aid volunteer goes to trial today for providing water, food, clean clothes and beds to two undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. If convicted, Scott Warren could spend up to 20 years in prison. Warren, an activist with the Tucson-based No More Deaths, is charged with three felony counts of allegedly “harboring” undocumented immigrants. For years, No More Deaths and other humanitarian aid groups in southern Arizona have left water and food in the harsh Sonoran Desert, where the temperature often reaches three digits during summer, to help refugees and migrants survive the deadly journey across the U.S. border. Warren was arrested on January 17, 2018, just hours after No More Deaths released a report detailing how U.S. Border Patrol agents had intentionally destroyed more than 3,000 gallons of water left out for migrants crossing the border. The group also published a video showing border agents dumping out jugs of water in the desert. Hours after the report was published, authorities raided the Barn, a No More Deaths aid camp in Ajo, where they found two migrants who had sought temporary refuge. We speak with Scott Warren and his fellow No More Deaths volunteer and activist Catherine Gaffney in Tucson.

▻https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/29/scott_warren_provided_food_water_to

Daily Trial Updates

Day 3 – June 3, 2019

We began the day with a powerful press conference featuring immigrant justice advocates from across the country. Patty Miller (Arivaca, AZ,) spoke on behalf of People Helping People in the Border Zone and the Rural Border Communities Coalition, followed by James Cordero and Jacqueline Arellano from Border Angeles (San Diego), Ravi Ragbir of the New Sanctuary Coalition (NYC) and Kaji Douša, Senior Pastor at The Park Avenue Christian Church in Manhattan.
The prosecution continued to build their “case” against Scott, spending most of the day playing video recordings of the testimony given by the two undocumented Central American men–José and Kristian–who were arrested with Scott. (Note we will be using only the first names of deposed witnesses to respect privacy).
Prosecutors attempted to erase the hardships experienced by undocumented people crossing the borderlands. One of the two witnesses, Kristian, testified that he had been traveling since October 4th, 2017 from his home in El Salvador. By the time of the arrest, he had been traveling for over three months and walking in the desert for two days. This is very different from the government narrative which claims the men were traveling for mere hours before they encountered help.
During their journey, José and Kristian experienced the routine and deadly Border Patrol apprehension method known as chase and scatter–a practice in which Border Patrol agents pursue migrants in vehicles, on foot, or in helicopters, forcing them to scatter into the desert. In the chaos, the two men lost their belongings, including “food and two gallons of water.” The No More Deaths Abuse Documentation Working Group has provided extensive documentation of the lethal impacts of this deadly apprehension method in our report series, The Disappeared.
José and Kristian testified that after arriving at the Barn, Scott gave them food, water, blankets and a place to rest. There was no evidence that Scott made any plans to transport them, hide them from law enforcement, or instruct them on how to evade any Border Patrol checkpoints.
Border Patrol Forensic Phone Analyst Rogelio Velasco gave a rundown of the contents of Scott Warren’s phone–he summarized 14,000 pages of emails and texts into a one page report. One part of his analysis showed the day José and Kristian arrived at the barn, Scott called a nurse and a doctor on the No More Deaths medical team. When asked why Velasco didn’t review the myriad other emails and texts discussing Scott’s humanitarian work, he replied, “I was looking for elements of criminality. If it wasn’t relevant then I skipped it.”

Day 2 – May 30, 2019

We began the day with Pastor Allison Harrington of Southside Presbyterian Church sharing the poem “Imagine the Angels of Bread” by Martin Espada along with a morning prayer.
Court opened with Border Patrol Agent John Marquez being cross-examined by the defense. He made it abundantly clear that he relied on racial profiling to determine the two men at the barn were migrants, claiming “they matched the description” of two migrants BP was looking for. However, when pressed by the defense, Agent Marquez admitted that he did not know whether they were “short, tall, fat, skinny, bearded, young, old, or even male.” He stated “In my experience, they appeared to be “Other Than Mexican.”
Agent Marquez also stated that January 17, 2018 was the first time Border Patrol agents in Ajo set up surveillance at the Barn. This happened just hours after No More Deaths released a report called The Disappeared Part 2: Interference on Humanitarian and video of agents destroying humanitarian aid supplies.
Second to take the stand was Border Patrol Agent Brendan Burns, who was the one who first referred to the migrants as “toncs”.
According to Agent Burns, when he approached the Barn that day, defendant Scott Warren told him that it was private property and a humanitarian aid space. He also asked the Agents to leave the property. Burns ignored him because, according to his surveillance, “the aliens didn’t appear to be in need of humanitarian aid.” When asked by the defense whether he has any medical credentials, the agent admitted to having none.
Five days after the arrests, a search warrant was issued for the Barn. Evidence seized included a receipt for a cherry coke, banana nut muffin and chips, a fridge note saying “bagels from flagstaff!” and a list of supplies for a camping trip.

Day 1 – May 29, 2019

After a moving press conference in the morning, a jury was selected of 15 people — 12 jurors and 3 alternates.
In his opening argument this afternoon, US Attorney Nathaniel Walters claimed that “this case is not about humanitarian aid,” urging jurors to ignore the realities of death and disappearance happening in the desert surrounding Ajo, Arizona.
The prosecution’s entire case for the charge of “conspiracy to harbor and transport” undocumented migrants appeared to hinge on the fact that two undocumented men arrived at the Barn, “and then Scott showed up” a few hours later.
The prosecution also harped on the fact that the men had “eaten food” prior to arriving at the Barn, apparently arguing that because the two men split one burrito after walking for two days through the desert, they were not in need of food or water
Lawyers for the defense firmly asserted in their opening arguments that this case IS about humanitarian aid, and that Scott’s actions must be understood as a part of his deep knowledge of suffering throughout the desert and commitment to working to end it. “Scott intended one thing: to provide basic human kindness in the form of humanitarian aid.”
The government also argued that Scott was pointing out known landmarks to the two migrants. “Defendant appeared to be pointing out different features, lots of hand motions. I could not hear them but there were hand gestures, up and down, in wave motions, rolling hills, pointing to known points of interest.” However, as the defense firmly stated “orientation is just as much of a human right as is food, water, and shelter.” In the context of death and disappearance in the desert, knowing where you are can save your life.
The government called their first witness, Border Patrol Agent John Marquez. Marquez testified to setting up surveillance on the Barn on January 17, 2018 and seeing Scott speaking with two men, who he presumed were undocumented based on “ill-fitting clothing” and the fact that they were “scanning the horizon.” No evidence was presented that Scott intended to hide or conceal anyone. Judge Collins called an end to the day before the defense’s cross-examination of Marquez.

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Trial continued this afternoon with video testimony from José, the other material witness arrested with Scott, who confirmed that he and Kristian were both hungry, cold, and very tired when they arrived at the barn.

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José also described their experience of being scattered by the #BorderPatrol, and how most of the men in his group had to stop walking because they were so beat up from spending just one day in the desert.

Chase and scatter is just one of the deadly apprehension tactics used by BP which result in increased numbers of deaths and disappearances. “Prevention through Deterrence” is the name of the overall strategy of pushing migrants deep into the desert.

►https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Ux__uVfNA

▻https://twitter.com/NoMoreDeaths/status/1135690665399017473

In Scott Warren’s No More Deaths Trial, Prosecutors Attempt to Paint a Web of Conspiracy

For nearly a year and a half, U.S. government prosecutors in Arizona have sought to make an example out of Scott Warren. The 36-year-old geographer and border-based humanitarian aid volunteer was arrested with two undocumented migrants on January 17, 2018, and accused of providing the men with food, water, and a place to sleep over three days. A month later, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of harboring and one count of conspiracy, bringing the total amount time he could spend in prison — if convicted on all counts and sentenced to consecutive terms — to 20 years.

Warren’s trial began in Tucson on Wednesday, marking the start of the most consequential prosecution of an American humanitarian aid provider in at least a decade. On Monday, assistant U.S. attorneys Anna Wright and Nathaniel J. Walters, who together have spearheaded an aggressive and controversial prosecutorial campaign against immigrant rights defenders in the Sonoran Desert, called their final witness to the stand.

Over three and a half days of testimony, the prosecutors presented the jury with two Border Patrol agents who arrested Warren, a third who examined his phone, and some three hours of video-taped testimony from the young migrants he was arrested with, recorded before their deportations. The arresting agents provided little information beyond the bare facts of their operation as it unfolded, while the agent who testified about phone evidence seemed to paint a more incriminating picture of a man who was not charged in the case than he did of Warren. The migrants who were held as the government’s material witnesses described Warren as a figure who was hardly present during their short time in the U.S., beyond giving them permission to eat, sleep, and drink at a property he did not own, after they showed up with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

The conspiracy charge in particular has cast an ominous pall over Warren’s case. As a prosecutorial tool, conspiracy charges can afford government attorneys sweeping powers in criminal cases. While the U.S. attorney’s office in Arizona was secretive about the nature of its theory of conspiracy with respect to Warren following his grand jury indictment, The Intercept revealed last month that the government considered Irineo Mujica, a prominent immigrants right advocate, a co-conspirator in the case. A dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, Mujica is the head of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, an immigrant rights organization known for its role in organizing the migrant caravans that have drawn President Trump’s outrage. He also operates a migrant shelter south of Ajo, the unincorporated community where Warren lives and works.

In opening arguments last week, Walters confirmed that the government considered Mujica a key figure in Warren’s alleged offenses. “They were in contact with Irineo Mujica,” the prosecutor told the jury, referring to 23-year-old Kristian Perez-Villanueva and 20-year-old Jose Arnaldo Sacaria-Goday, the Central American migrants, from El Salvador and Honduras, respectively, whom Warren was arrested with. Not only that, Walters said, Mujica had driven the pair to “the Barn,” a property used by humanitarian volunteers operating in the area. Warren’s relationship to Mujica was that of a “shared acquaintance,” Walters said, and cellphone evidence would show that the two were in contact before the migrants arrived at the Barn.

Mujica declined to comment for this story and has not been charged with a crime.

On Monday afternoon, Rogelio Velasco, a Border Patrol agent in the Tucson sector’s intelligence unit, testified about the government’s telephonic evidence, describing how his work excavating cellphones is used to support the agency’s high-priority cases, often executed by its plainclothes “Disrupt” units. “We try to look for bigger cases where more people are involved,” he testified. Warren was arrested by a Disrupt unit.

Wright and Walters’ interest in Warren and the humanitarian groups he volunteers with, particularly the faith-based organization No More Deaths, began in 2017, when the assistant U.S. attorneys brought federal misdemeanor charges against several members of the group — Warren included — for leaving water and other humanitarian aid supplies on public lands where migrants routinely die. Velasco explained how, after Warren’s arrest, the prosecutors directed him to focus on particular date ranges and communications included in Warren’s phone and a phone carried by Perez-Villanueva.

As the Border Patrol agent carried out the prosecutors’ request, he said he found a series of communications between Perez-Villanueva and Mujica, beginning in December 2017 and extending through January 2018, when he and Sacaria-Goday, along with Warren, were arrested in Ajo. According to Velasco’s testimony, the messages showed that when the young migrants entered the U.S. on January 14, Perez-Villanueva texted Mujica, “We’re here.” To which Mujica replied, “I’m on my way.”

The government’s efforts to tie alleged illegal activity between Mujica and Warren appeared to begin after Warren was taken into custody. Four months after Warren was indicted, Jarrett L. Lenker, a supervisory Border Patrol agent in the Tucson sector intelligence unit, submitted a search warrant affidavit for Warren’s iPhone, first uncovered by the Arizona Daily Star and obtained by The Intercept.

Mujica was a central figure in Lenker’s affidavit. The Border Patrol agent described “a total of 16 phone calls or WhatsApp messages” exchanged between Perez-Villanueva and Mujica in the month before his arrest. Lenker’s affidavit also revealed that, through subpoenas, law enforcement identified two phone numbers “associated with Warren’s Verizon account” following his arrest: one belonging to Warren and the other belonging to his partner.

In his testimony Monday, Velasco said that Mujica was a contact in Warren’s phone, and that the two had communications up through January 11, six days before his arrest. Warren also sent Mujica’s contact information to another person in his phone in the summer of 2017, Velasco testified.

Following Velasco’s testimony, the prosecution called Border Patrol agent Brendan Burns, one of the Disrupt unit members principally involved in Warren’s arrest, to the witness stand. Burns described an incident a week after Warren’s arrest, in which Mujica was pulled over at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside Ajo. He drove to the scene and observed that Mujica’s van was the same vehicle featured in a selfie Perez-Villanueva and Sacaria-Goday took after they made it to the U.S. Inside the van were a number of items associated with illegal border crossings, Burns testified, including water jugs and foreign identification cards. The same incident was also described in Lenker’s affidavit, which noted that the ID cards belonged to individuals who had been removed from the U.S. Lenker also recounted an incident the following month, in which Mujica was again stopped at the same Border Patrol checkpoint and his passenger was arrested for being in the country illegally.

Burns acknowledged having seen the photos of Perez-Villanueva and Sacaria-Goday in Mujica’s vehicle prior to his encounter with Mujica, and his knowledge that the vehicle belonged to Mujica. He testified that he did not, however, ask Mujica about the two young migrants, nor their alleged conspiracy with Scott Warren, nor did he place him under arrest.

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In opening statements last week, defense attorney Greg Kuykendall acknowledged that Warren had been in contact with Mujica days before his arrest, and that was because Mujica had information about a dead body outside Ajo. The remains of roughly 3,000 people have been recovered in the Arizona desert since 2000, the grim consequence of a government policy that deliberately funnels migrants into the most lethal areas of the U.S.-Mexico border. Since 2014, Warren has brought together a network of humanitarian groups working to confront the loss of life in the state’s deadliest region, the so-called west desert. Those efforts have yielded a historic increase in the number of bodies and human remains accounted for in the area.

On cross examination Monday, Kuykendall zeroed in on the evidence Velasco’s examination of Warren’s phone had uncovered. The defense attorney first established, with Velasco’s admission, that there were no communications recorded between Perez-Villanueva and Warren (Sacaria-Goday tossed his phone while the pair were in the desert). He then focused on Warren’s communications with Mujica.

“Are you aware that Scott and Irineo are involved in humanitarian aid efforts?” Kuykendall asked.

“I think I might’ve heard something,” Velasco replied. “But I’m not exactly sure.”

(Warren’s humanitarian aid work was noted in both internal Border Patrol reports and news accounts before and after his arrest — he and Mujica were featured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper series in 2017 detailing their efforts to find dead and lost migrants in the desert.)

Velasco admitted that he had no idea what Warren and Mujica discussed the week before Warren’s arrest, nor had he taken note of what Warren had Googled as soon as the pair got off the phone. Kuykendall informed the jury that those searches included information on backcountry areas south of Ajo, a news report on a humanitarian group conducting search and rescue operations in the region, and the English translation of a Spanish word for scratches. Following the Google searches, Kuykendall told the jury, Warren called Dr. Norma Price, a physician who has long provided medical advice to No More Deaths volunteers.

Kuykendall questioned Velasco about his testimony regarding Warren’s communications with a woman named “Susannah.” Velasco admitted that he did not know who Susannah was and that he “saw nothing that directly suggested” she and Warren were communicating about criminal activity. Instead, he testified, they were messaging one another about “providing water in different areas.” Moving along, Kuykendall asked if Velasco was aware that Perez-Villanueva worked for Mujica while staying at his shelter in Mexico — a potential explanation for their repeated communications in the winter of 2017. Velasco appeared uncertain, and acknowledged that from January 10 to the afternoon of January 14, when the migrants arrived in Ajo, there were no communications between Perez-Villanueva and Mujica.

“When he was crossing I didn’t come up with any messages,” Velasco testified.

In opening arguments last week, Kuykendall explained how, in the days leading up to his arrest, Warren spent his time training new humanitarian volunteers, assisting sheriff’s deputies in the search for a body, and performing his duties as a new instructor at Tohono O’odham Community College, a school for residents of the Native American reservation outside Ajo. In early January 2018, five new No More Deaths volunteers had arrived in Ajo. As the local expert, it was up to Warren to show them the ropes and familiarize them with the organization’s protocols — protocols, Kuykendall said, that are intended to ensure the group’s work is “effective, responsible, and legal.”

On Thursday, January 11, Warren was at home when Mujica called to inform him about the human remains he had heard about, Kuykendall said, noting that Warren had the experience and know-how to organize a grid search in the area. Efforts to coordinate a search were the extent of communications between Warren and Mujica, the defense attorney said. The following day, Warren took the new volunteers to a migrant shelter in Mexico, where they distributed “harm reduction” kits, consisting of chlorine to purify water, ointment for blisters, combs for removing cholla cactus spines, and lists of emergency numbers, including 911.

“No More Deaths’ role is to reduce the harm,” Kuykendall told the jury, not to encourage people to cross a desert that has claimed thousands of lives.

Warren spent much of the following weekend at home with the flu, Kuykendall said, coordinating rescue operations by phone and working to link up Pima County sheriff’s deputies with No More Deaths volunteers in the field. Warren’s responsibilities involved preparing new volunteers, operationally and emotionally, for the possibility of finding a dead body in the desert. On the night of Sunday, January 14, they also included making dinner for the new recruits at the Barn. Warren returned to the building with groceries that afternoon to find two young men — Perez-Villanueva and Sacaria-Goday — already inside.

“Scott’s spooked,” Kuykendall said of Warren’s reaction.

In the depositions played for the jury Monday, Perez-Villanueva and Sacaria-Goday described a harrowing journey through the desert that involved being chased by law enforcement and losing many of their supplies. Perez-Villanueva described fleeing problems in El Salvador and said that he had no intention to enter the U.S. until those problems cropped up in Mexico. The pair had crossed in a group of five but were quickly on their own, their companions slowed down by thorns in their feet. “Between the two of us, we made a good team,” Perez-Villanueva said. “We supported each other mutually.” The young men testified to crossing the desert and tossing their food and backpacks when they were chased by immigration agents. They eventually made it to a gas station outside Ajo, where “a gringo” drove them to second gas station in town.

Neither of the migrants identified the man who then drove to the Barn, though Perez-Villanueva testified that the man told them not to describe his role in delivering them there, and that he honored that request. The pair let themselves in through an unlocked door. Warren arrived approximately 40 minutes later. “They tell him that they’re hungry,” Kuykendall told the jury. “They tell him that they’re thirsty. They tell him that they’re tired.”

Warren grabbed a form No More Deaths uses to catalog medical evaluations of migrants encountered in the field, the defense attorney said. Warren, a certified wilderness first responder, found that Perez-Villanueva had blisters on his feet, a persistent cough, and signs of dehydration. Sacaria-Goday’s conditions were much the same, though he was also suffering from chest pain. In keeping with No More Deaths’ protocol, Warren called a nurse before starting dinner for the volunteers that were set to arrive — as well as their two new guests.

“He gives food to hungry men,” Kuykendall told the jury. “They share a meal with the volunteers.”

By phone, Dr. Price advised the two young migrants to stay off their feet for a couple days, to stay hydrated, and asked the volunteers to keep them under observation, Kuykendall told the jury. Warren came and went in the days that followed, as did other No More Deaths volunteers. “He hardly spent time there,” Sacaria-Goday testified. “I hardly spoke with him,” Perez-Villanueva said.

On Tuesday, January 16, Warren had his first day teaching at the community college. The following day, he worked from home. A group of high school students were scheduled to visit the Barn that night. Warren pulled up to the Barn in the afternoon, Kuykendall said, as Perez-Villanueva and Sacaria-Goday were preparing to leave. The three spoke outside. Across a desert wash, two plainclothes Border Patrol agents were conducting “covert surveillance,” in the words of Walters, the government prosecutor.

“Toncs at the barn,” agent Burns wrote in a group text, using a slang word for migrants known to reflect the sound a flashlight makes when it connects with a human skull.

The lead agent on the arrest operation was John Marquez. In his testimony last week, Marquez’s narrative began the afternoon of Warren’s arrest, though he acknowledged doing a bit of “background research,” in Kuykendall’s words, on Warren before taking him into custody. In fact, texts messages The Intercept has previously reported upon show Marquez repeatedly communicating with local Fish and Wildlife agents about Warren’s whereabouts and No More Deaths’ humanitarian activity in the run-up to his arrest. In a report he filed after Warren was taken into custody, Marquez described him as a “recruiter” for the organization, who regularly comments publicly on immigration issues.

Under questioning from the prosecution, Marquez highlighted hand gestures Warren allegedly made while standing outside with Perez-Villanueva and Sacaria-Goday as evidence that he was providing them directions north. Upon cross examination, however, he acknowledged that this apparently important detail was not included in his arrest report. Perez-Villanueva and Sacaria-Goday, meanwhile, both testified that Warren did not provide them directions for their journey. He never advised them to hide in the Barn, they said, and they were free to come and go as they pleased.

Marquez and Burns descended on the Barn with backup provided by a law enforcement caravan that had mustered at a hotel down the road. Warren, Perez-Villanueva, and Sacaria-Goday were all placed under arrest. The migrants were held in government custody for several weeks before providing their testimony and being deported to their home countries.

“There is one question in this case,” Kuykendall told the jury considering Warren’s actions in the days leading up to his arrest. “Did he intend to violate the law?” The government did not have the evidence to prove that he did, the defense attorney argued.

“Scott intended one thing,” he said. “To provide basic human kindness in the form of humanitarian aid.”

▻https://theintercept.com/2019/06/04/scott-warren-no-more-deaths-trial-conspiracy-phone

UN experts urge US authorities to drop charges against aid worker Scott Warren

GENEVA (5 June 2019) – UN human rights experts* have expressed grave concerns about criminal charges brought against Scott Warren, a U.S. citizen who works for an aid organisation providing water and medical aid to migrants in the Arizona desert.

Warren’s trial began on 29 May 2019, and if found guilty he faces up to 20 years in jail.

“Providing humanitarian aid is not a crime. We urge the US authorities to immediately drop all charges against Scott Warren,” the experts said.

Warren, 36, lives in the desert town of Ajo, Arizona, where he helped to establish the organisation No More Deaths, which provides humanitarian assistance along migration routes. For the past 10 years, he has helped migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross the Arizona - Mexican border through the Sonora desert.

Border Control agents arrested the human rights defender on 17 January 2018 at “the Barn”, a humanitarian shelter in the Sonora Desert, while he was providing assistance to two undocumented migrants. His arrest came hours after the release of a report from No More Deaths which documented the implication of Border Control agents in the systematic destruction of humanitarian supplies, including water stores, and denounced a pattern of harassment, intimidation and surveillance against humanitarian aid workers.

Warren faces charges on two counts of “harboring” migrants and one count of “conspiring to transport and harbor” migrants.

Arizona has some of the deadliest migrant corridors along the US border, accounting for more than a third of more than 7,000 border deaths recorded by US authorities over the last two decades. The actual numbers are likely to be higher, given the remains of many of those who die are not recovered.

“The vital and legitimate humanitarian work of Scott Warren and No More Deaths upholds the right to life and prevents the deaths of migrants and asylum seekers at the US-Mexican border,” said the UN experts.

“The prosecution of Scott Warren represents an unacceptable escalation of existing patterns criminalising migrant rights defenders along the migrant caravan routes.”

The experts are in contact with the U.S. authorities on the issues.

▻https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24675&LangID=E

Judge declares mistrial in Tucson trial of aid volunteer accused of harboring migrants

Jurors in the high-profile felony trial against Scott Warren — a humanitarian-aid volunteer charged with harboring two undocumented immigrants in southwestern Arizona — were unable to reach a verdict, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial in the case.

U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins brought the 12-person jury into the Tucson federal courtroom on the afternoon of June 11, after they indicated for a second time that they were deadlocked on all three charges Warren faced.

The judge dismissed the jury after each member told him that additional time deliberating would not result in a verdict.

Collins scheduled a status conference on the trial for July 2, when prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona will decide whether to try Warren again before another jury.

Prosecutors declined to comment after the judge dismissed the jury, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona has not responded to a request for comment.

Warren, 36, a volunteer with the group No More Deaths, faced up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

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He’s accused of conspiring to transport two undocumented immigrants, Kristian Perez-Villanueva and Jose Arnaldo Sacaria-Goday, and of harboring them for several days in January 2018 in Ajo, Arizona.

Speaking to reporters outside the federal courthouse, Warren acknowledged that he’d be back in court in a month’s time to learn if the legal case against him would continue.

But he thanked his supporters who filled the courthouse to capacity on each of the seven days of testimony.

“But the other men arrested with me that day, Jose Sacaria-Goday and Kristian Perez-Villanueva, have not received the outpouring of support that I have,” Warren said. “I do not know how they are doing now. But I desperately hope that they are safe.”

Warren said that the need to provide humanitarian aid to migrants crossing the desert along the U.S.-Mexico border still is “as necessary” as ever.

He pointed out that since his arrest on Jan. 17, 2018, the remains of 88 migrants were recovered from the Ajo corridor, a remote and notoriously rugged desert wilderness in southwestern Arizona.

Greg Kuykendall, the lead attorney in his defense team, praised volunteers, such as Warren, for using their time and resources to help migrants in need.

He declined to answer questions about the possibility of a retrial.

“The government put on its best case, with the full force and countless resources, and 12 jurors could not agree with that case,” Kuykendall said. “We remain devoted today in our commitment to defend Scott’s lifelong devotion to providing humanitarian aid.”
Volunteers say border humanitarian work will continue

The hung jury in Warren’s felony trial follows the convictions of several other No More Deaths volunteers for carrying out humanitarian aid duties along protected wilderness areas along the Arizona border.

In January, a federal judge in Tucson convicted four volunteers of misdemeanors for entering a wildlife refuge without a permit and dropping off food and water for migrants. He sentenced them to 15 months probation, ordered them to pay a fine of $150, and banned them from the refuge.

The following month, four other No More Deaths volunteers pleaded guilty to a civil infraction of entering a wildlife refuge without a permit, and agreed to pay $280 in fines.

Warren is also awaiting the outcome of a separate misdemeanor case brought against him for entering protected wilderness areas without a permit.

Page Corich-Kleim, a longtime volunteer with No More Deaths, said despite these results, their work in providing humanitarian aid will continue along southwestern Arizona.

“This evening, we have a group of volunteers driving out to Ajo to put water out,” she said. “So throughout this whole trial, we haven’t stopped doing our work and we’re not going to stop doing our work.”

The jury began deliberations midday on Friday, after attorneys presented their closing arguments in Tucson federal court. But after nearly 15 hours of deliberations, they were unable to reach consensus on the three felony counts against Warren.

The jurors first notified Collins late Monday afternoon that they were unable to reach a verdict in the case. But the judge asked them to try once again on Tuesday morning.

But after deadlocking once again on Tuesday morning, Collins thanked them and dismissed them from jury duty.

The jurors left the courthouse without speaking to the media.
Prosecutors said Warren conspired to harbor migrants

During the trial, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona argued that the two migrants were in good health and did not need medical care when they showed up to a building known as “the Barn” on Jan. 14, 2018.

The prosecutors argued that Warren had conspired with Irineo Mujica, a migrants-rights activist who runs a shelter in nearby Sonoyta, Mexico, to take in the two migrants and shield them from Border Patrol. They also alleged that the humanitarian aid was used as a “cover” to help them further their journey illegally into the United States.

Agents arrested Warren, as well as Perez-Villanueva and Sacaria-Goday, during a Jan. 17, 2018, raid of the Barn, after they had set up surveillance of the area.

Defense attorneys for Warren said he had no idea that the two men would be at the Barn when he arrived, and that he had followed the protocols No More Deaths had established to provide a medical assessment, as well as food, water, shelter and orientation to the two migrants.

Warren’s intent was not to break the law, but rather to provide lifesaving aid, his attorneys said.

▻https://eu.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/border-issues/2019/06/11/scott-warren-verdict-aiding-undocumented-immigrants-on-us-mexico-border-no-more-deaths/1387036001

Jurors refuse to convict activist facing 20 years for helping migrants

Jury could not reach a verdict against Scott Daniel Warren who was arrested in 2018 for giving migrants water, food and lodging.

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A US jury could not reach a verdict on Tuesday against a border activist who, defense attorneys say, was simply being kind by providing two migrants with water, food and lodging when he was arrested in early 2018.

Scott Daniel Warren, a 36-year-old college geography instructor, was charged with conspiracy to transport and harbor migrants in a trial that humanitarian aid groups said would have wide implications for their work. He faced up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors maintained the men were not in distress and Warren conspired to transport and harbor them at a property used for providing aid to migrants in an Arizona town near the US-Mexico border.

The case played out as humanitarian groups say they are coming under increasing scrutiny under Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies.

Outside the courthouse, Warren thanked his supporters and criticized the government’s efforts to crack down on the number of immigrants coming to the US.

“Today it remains as necessary as ever for local residents and humanitarian aid volunteers to stand in solidarity with migrants and refugees, and we must also stand for our families, friends and neighbors in the very land itself most threatened by the militarization of our borderland communities,” Warren said.

Glenn McCormick, a spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Arizona, declined to comment on whether Warren would face another trial. The judge set a 2 July status hearing for the defense and prosecution.

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Warren is one of nine members of the humanitarian aid group No More Deaths who have been charged with crimes related to their work. But he is the only one to face felony charges.

In west Texas, a county attorney was detained earlier this year after stopping her car on a dark highway to pick up three young migrants who flagged her down. Teresa Todd was held briefly, and federal agents searched her cellphone.

Border activists say they worry about what they see as the gradual criminalization of humanitarian action.

Warren has said his case could set a dangerous precedent by expanding the definition of the crimes of transporting and harboring migrants to include people merely trying to help border-crossers in desperate need of water or other necessities.

Warren and other volunteers with the No More Deaths group also were targeted this year in separate federal misdemeanor cases after leaving water, canned food and other provisions for migrants hiking through the Cabeza Prieta national wildlife refuge in southern Arizona.

In Warren’s felony case, the defense team headed by Greg Kuykendall argued that Warren could not, in good conscience, turn away two migrants who had recently crossed the desert to enter the US.

Jurors said on Monday that they could not reach a consensus on the charges against Warren, but a federal judge told them to keep deliberating. They were still deadlocked on Tuesday and ultimately dismissed.

Thousands of migrants have died crossing the border since the mid-1990s, when heightened enforcement pushed migrant traffic into Arizona’s scorching deserts.

▻https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/11/arizona-activist-migrant-water-scott-daniel-warren-verdict

The gripping case of Scott Warren

Is offering assistance to illegal immigrants a protected religious practice?

https://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/640-width/images/print-edition/20190615_USP002_0.jpg

ONE TROUBLE with liberty is that you never know what people will do with it. In recent years, American conservatives have been passionate defenders of individual religious freedoms, such as the right to have nothing to do with same-sex weddings. But Scott Warren (pictured), an idealistic geographer who is facing felony charges for succouring migrants in the Arizona desert, has now become a standard-bearer for a very different sort of conscientious objection.

On June 11th his trial, which has been closely watched at the liberal end of America’s religious spectrum, reached deadlock after jurors failed to agree despite three days of deliberation. That was a better result than Mr Warren and his many supporters feared. Prosecutors may seek a retrial.

▻https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/06/15/the-gripping-case-of-scott-warren

USA: Decision to retry Dr. Scott Warren is part of wider campaign against human rights defenders

In response to US federal prosecutors deciding today to retry the human rights defender Dr. Scott Warren after a previous attempt to prosecute him ended in a mistrial, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director Amnesty International, said:

“By deciding to mount an entirely new trial against Dr. Scott Warren, the Trump administration is doubling down on its attacks against human rights defenders who are doing necessary and life-saving work at the US-Mexico border.”

“Amnesty International has documented that the criminalization of Dr. Warren is not an isolated incident, but part of a larger politically-motivated campaign of harassment and intimidation by the US government that is in clear violation of US and international law. The US government must immediately halt these campaigns, and Congress should hold authorities accountable for their abuse of power.”

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4 Arizona Women Convicted for Leaving Water for Migrants
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/800226

En Francais :

Des entreprises de tourisme favorisent l’extension des colonies et profitent de crimes de guerre
Amnesty International, le 30 janvier 2019
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/756241

Les géants du tourisme en ligne tirent profit de "crimes de guerre" en Cisjordanie, accuse Amnesty
L’Orient Le Jour, le 30 janvier 2019

Airbnb et TripAdvisor accusés de « crimes de guerre » en Cisjordanie
Huffington Post, le 30 janvier 2019

#Palestine #Amnesty_International #Tourisme #Colonies #TripAdvisor #AirBnB #BDS #Boycott

Pétition maintenant :
▻https://www.amnesty.fr/responsabilite-des-entreprises/petitions/exigez-de-tripadvisor-de-se-retirer-des-colonies-israeliennes

#Calais #Grande-Synthe #Ouistreham #Paris #France #accueil #délit_de_solidarité #solidarité #frontières #UK #Angleterre #externalisation #contrôles_frontaliers #campements #jungle #rapport #défenseur_des_droits #accords_bilatéraux #accord_bilatéral #Règlement_dublin #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Dublinés

Le @Defenseurdroits réitère sa reco de suspendre le « règlement Dublin » qui prévoit que le pays d’entrée dans l’UE (Espagne Italie..) est le responsable des demandes d’asile. Ca « condamne les exilés [rêvant de France ou Allemagne] à une errance perpétuelle »

▻https://twitter.com/mathildemathieu/status/1075382900210786304?s=19
#migrerrance #errance #errance_perpetuelle

Migrants : le Défenseur des droits dénonce une « dégradation » dans les campements depuis 2015

Le Défenseur des droits Jacques Toubon a dénoncé mercredi une « dégradation » de la situation sanitaire et sociale des migrants vivant sur des campements en France depuis trois ans, avec « des atteintes sans précédents aux droits fondamentaux ».

Face à une politique « non-accueil », les migrants « se retrouvent dans un état de dénuement extrême, dépourvus de tout abri et ayant comme première préoccupation celle de subvenir à leurs besoins vitaux : boire, se nourrir, se laver », déplore Toubon dans un rapport sur les campements de Calais, Paris, Grande-Synthe (Nord) et Ouistreham (Calvados). « Les difficultés à trouver des solutions durables aggravent le phénomène », estime-il, en déplorant des « stratégies de dissuasion et d’invisibilisation sur le territoire national menées par les pouvoirs publics ».

En 2015 déjà, Toubon avait dénoncé dans un rapport sévère la situation des migrants dans le bidonville de la « Jungle » à Calais, qui comptait alors plus de 4 000 personnes, et a été démantelé depuis, de même que les grands campements parisiens.

Mais « la situation s’est en réalité nettement dégradée », note le Défenseur, qui pointe les opérations d’évacuation régulièrement menées par les pouvoirs publics. « Loin d’être conformes aux exigences du droit à un hébergement inconditionnel », ces mises à l’abri « contribuent à la constitution de nouveaux campements » par leur caractère « non durable », assure-t-il dans ce document reprenant divers avis rendus depuis 2015.

Toubon déplore aussi, pour ces mises à l’abri, le recours à des centres pour étrangers fonctionnant « comme des centres de transit » avec « des critères de tri ». « En lieu et place d’une véritable politique d’accueil, les pouvoirs publics ont préféré mettre en œuvre une politique essentiellement fondée sur la police des étrangers, reflétant une forme de +criminalisation des migrations », assure-t-il dans ce rapport publié au lendemain

Il s’inquiète particulièrement des méthodes policières, avec des évacuations « pour empêcher tout nouveau point de fixation » et des contrôles d’identité « pour contrôler le droit au séjour ». « Pour servir ces opérations, différentes pratiques ont pu être observées telles que l’usage de gaz lacrymogène », assure-t-il dans ce rapport publié au lendemain de la journée internationale des migrants.

Faisant état d’« une détérioration sans précédent de la santé des exilés », avec un « développement inquiétant des troubles psychiques », il s’inquiète particulièrement pour les mineurs, « laissés à leur sort » en raison du caractère « largement inadapté et sous-dimensionné des dispositifs » existants.

Dans ce contexte Toubon souligne le rôle des collectivités locales « contraintes d’agir », et celui des associations qui « se substituent de plus en plus fréquemment aux pouvoirs publics » mais « sont de plus en plus empêchées d’agir ». Le Défenseur déplore enfin des « entraves persistantes à l’entrée dans la procédure d’asile » qui « viennent grossir les rangs des exilés contraints de vivre dans la clandestinité ».

Mettant en garde contre une « logique d’externalisation de la gestion des flux migratoires », il formule plusieurs propositions, dont la suspension du règlement de Dublin confiant au pays d’enregistrement l’examen de la demande d’asile.

▻https://www.liberation.fr/france/2018/12/19/migrants-le-defenseur-des-droits-denonce-une-degradation-dans-les-campeme

France: Police harassing, intimidating and even using violence against people helping refugees

French authorities have harassed, intimidated and even violently assaulted people offering humanitarian aid and other support to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in northern France in a deliberate attempt to curtail acts of solidarity, a new report by Amnesty International has found.

Targeting solidarity: Criminalization and harassment of people defending migrant and refugee rights in northern France reveals how people helping refugees and migrants in #Calais and #Grand-Synthe are targeted by the police and the court system.

“Providing food to the hungry and warmth to the homeless have become increasingly risky activities in northern France, as the authorities regularly target people offering help to migrants and refugees,” said Lisa Maracani, Amnesty International’s Human Rights Defenders Researcher.

“Migrants and refugees did not simply disappear with the demolition of the ‘Jungle’ camp in 2016 and more than a thousand men, women and children are still living precarious lives in the area. The role of human rights defenders who offer them support is crucial.”

Two-and-a-half years after the destruction of the so-called ‘Jungle’ camp, more than 1,200 refugees and migrants, including unaccompanied children, are living in tents and informal camps around Calais and Grande-Synthe. They have no regular access to food, water, sanitation, shelter or legal assistance and are subject to evictions, harassment, and violence at the hands of the police.

One Afghan man told Amnesty International that he was beaten on his back with a baton by police during a forced eviction, and another described how a police officer had urinated on his tent. An Iranian man told Amnesty International: “I left my country looking for safety, but here I face police abuse…The police come every day to take my tent and clothes.”

The number of camps and tents destroyed in Calais and Grande-Synthe increased last year, with 391 evictions carried out in the first five months of 2019 alone. Once evicted, migrants and refugees are at increased risk of violence and abuse. One local woman who provides migrants with help, told Amnesty International that she witnessed police spray migrants with teargas in the face while they were sleeping in her garden.

Verbal and physical abuse part of daily routine

The increased number of evictions is a consequence of France’s “no attachment points” policy, which attempts to deter people from staying in the area by ensuring that camps are not set up. While authorities have put in place an outreach service to enable refugees and migrants access reception centres and asylum offices in France, these centres are a long way from Calais and Grande-Synthe and sometimes there is not enough capacity to accommodate them. In order to alleviate their suffering, human rights defenders have attempted to fill the gap and provide the essential support and services that the French state is failing to offer.

Instead of recognizing the importance of their work, authorities have obstructed, intimidated, harassed and in some cases started baseless prosecutions and even used violence.

Several human rights defenders told Amnesty International that acts of intimidation, threats of arrest and abuse have become “part and parcel of their daily work.” One humanitarian worker told Amnesty International that she was violently pushed to the ground and choked by police in June 2018 after she had filmed four officers chasing a foreign national in Calais.

A report last year by four organisations found that there had been 646 instances of police harassment and abuse against volunteers between November 2017 and June 2018. There have been 72 recorded instances this year, but the real figure is likely to be much higher.

Eleonore Vigny who took part in the Human Rights Observers project in Calais said that intimidation of volunteers had spiked last summer, with police employing new harassment techniques. “In April and May 2018 there were several body searches, especially of female volunteers, sometimes done by male officers. There was also an escalation in insults, and people have been pushed, sometimes to the ground…Recently we received more threats of legal suits, and threats of arrests.”

When reporting mistreatment of refugees, migrants, and human rights defenders, complainants say that they are not taken seriously. Charlotte Head, a volunteer who made several complaints about police behaviour to the police’s internal investigatory body, was warned that her complaints were “defamatory in character” and could constitute a “crime”.

One local human rights organization, Cabane Juridique, filed more than 60 complaints to different authorities and bodies between January 2016 and April 2019. In May 2019, the French Ministry of Justice told Amnesty International that regional courts had received just 11 complaints since 2016, and only one was being investigated by prosecutors.

Stress, anxiety and the fear of prosecution

Human rights defenders told Amnesty International that they feel the pressure on them is increasing and having a negative impact on all aspects of their lives. Some have experienced insomnia, stress and anxiety whilst others describe the impact of prosecutions as debilitating.

Loan Torondel who had been working in Calais told Amnesty International: “I feel that I am caught between the acute needs of people I am trying to help and the intimidation of French authorities who are trying to hamper humanitarian activities and label our activities as crimes. This is not a sustainable working environment for us, and it is the people we help who pay the consequences."

One human rights defender told Amnesty International: “For the volunteers it’s very difficult. They are scared. We brief them on security and the context and they get scared. We struggle to recruit new volunteers.”

But despite the harassment, many of those interviewed by Amnesty International are determined to carry on with their vital work. One local volunteer told Amnesty International that she is thankful for the presence of the migrants and refugees: “They have made us more human, they have enriched our lives.”

“Rather than attempting to make the lives of migrants and refugees as difficult as possible, French authorities should take concrete measures to alleviate their suffering and provide shelter and support to all those living on the streets,” said Lisa Maracani.

“It is also time to defend the defenders. Rather than treating human rights defenders as the enemy, the authorities should see them as a vital ally, and celebrate acts of solidarity and compassion rather than criminalizing them.”

BACKGROUND

Human rights violations faced by human rights defenders must be viewed within the context of the treatment of the people whose rights they defend. It is essential that the rights of refugees and migrants are respected. This means improving the asylum and reception system in France, providing safe and legal routes to the UK and reforming the European asylum system to remove the requirement laid down in the Dublin rules that asylum-seekers seek protection in their first country of entry.

▻https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/06/france-police-harassing-intimidating-and-even-using-violence-against-people
#France

Le #rapport:
▻https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/EUR2103562019FRENCH.PDF

#maintien_de_l'ordre

La violence de la police envers les journalistes, c’est pas bien.
La violence de la police envers les opposant.e.s, c’est donc bien.
La violence des journaliste envers les opposant.e.s, c’est donc aussi bien.

Version française du communiqué :

Communiqué de presse d’Amnesty International.

FRANCE. LA POLICE DOIT CESSER DE RECOURIR À UNE FORCE EXCESSIVE CONTRE LES MANIFESTANTS ET LES LYCÉENS

►https://www.amnesty.fr/presse/france.-la-police-doit-cesser-de-recourir-a-une-force

Plus de 1 400 personnes ont été blessées lors des manifestations des « gilets jaunes ».

Une force excessive a été utilisée contre des lycéen·ne·s, des journalistes et des manifestant·e·s. 

« J’ai entendu un tir de flashball et j’ai vu un élève s’effondrer. Il avait la joue ouverte. »

USAGE EXCESSIF DE LA FORCE LORS DES MANIFESTATIONS DES GILETS JAUNES

►https://www.amnesty.fr/liberte-d-expression/actualites/usage-excessif-de-la-force-lors-des-manifestations

@bce_106_6 tu veux en venir où avec cette rhétorique ?

Rappeler qu’il n’y a pas que la police qui est violente.

#aggressions_sexuelles #harcèlement_sexuel

Depuis 2014, 832 naufrages, 16’320 morts et disparus, dont 1063 en #2018

https://i.imgur.com/aJJWnPa.png

Dopo l’allontanamento delle ONG è strage quotidiana sulla rotta del Mediterraneo centrale

Nel giorno in cui il ministro dell’interno e vice-presidente del Consiglio rilancia da Pontida l’ennesimo attacco contro le ONG, che vedranno “solo in cartolina” i porti italiani, e mentre tre navi umanitarie sono bloccate nel porto de La Valletta, per decisione del governo maltese, nelle acque del Mediterraneo Centrale si continua a morire. Si continua a morire nell’indifferenza della maggior parte della popolazione italiana, schierata con chi ha promesso che, chiudendo i porti, e le vie di fuga, ai migranti da soccorrere in mare, le condizioni di vita degli italiani colpiti dalla crisi potranno migliorare. Una tragica illusione. Il vero pericolo per tutti oggi non viene dal mare, ma dalla costituzione di un fronte sovranista ed identitario europeo, che potrebbe cancellare lo stato di diritto e la democrazia rappresentativa. E allora non ci sarà più spazio nè per i diritti umani nè per i diritti sociali. i più forti imporranno le loro leggi ai più deboli.

Questa volta nessuno potrà accusare le navi umanitarie, come hanno fatto fino a oggi direttori di giornali in Italia ed esponenti della sedicente Guardia costiera libica. Adesso i libici, in assenza delle navi umanitarie, sono costretti ad avvalersi delle navi commerciali in navigazione nelle loro acque, per operazioni di soccorso che da soli non sono in grado di garantire, salvo poi attaccare le ONG. Per le persone “soccorse” in mare da questi mezzi il destino è segnato, lo sbarco avviene a Tripoli, porto più vicino ma non “place of safety“, e dopo poche ore, per coloro che sono trasferiti dal centro di prima accoglienza al porto, ai vari centri di detenzione gestiti dalle milizie, il destino è segnato.

Si ripetono intanto attacchi scomposti contro gli operatori umanitari, che rilanciano la macchina del fango che da oltre un anno si rivolge contro le ONG, accusate di tutti i possibili reati, per il solo fatto di salvare vite umane in mare. Si vogliono eliminare tutti i testimoni dell’Olocausto nel Mediterraneo. Senza un voto del Parlamento si è cercato di introdurre in via surrettizia il reato di solidarietà, in spregio al principio di legalità, affermato dalla Costituzione italiana.

Questa striscia di morte, che si allunga giorno dopo giorno, con una cadenza mai vista prima, deriva direttamente dalla eliminazione delle navi umanitarie e dall’arretramento degli assetti militari italiani ed europei che in passato, anche se si verificavano gravi stragi, riuscivano tuttavia a garantire più solleciti interventi di soccorso. Il blocco di tre navi umanitarie a Malta, come il sequestro della Juventa lo scorso anno, potrebbero essere stati causa di una forte riduzione della capacità di soccorso in acque internazionali, tra la Libia e ‘Europa, una capacità di soccorso che gli stati non hanno voluto mantenere negli standards imposti dalle Convenzioni internazionali a ciascun paese responsabile di una zona SAR ( ricerca e soccorso). La presenza delle navi umanitarie è stata bollata come un fattore di attrazione delle partenze, se non come vera e propria complicità con i trafficanti, come ha ripetuto in più occasioni Salvini. Ne vediamo oggi le conseguenze mortali.

Anche l’UNHCR ha espresso la sua preoccupazione per la diminuzione degli assetti navali in grado di operare interventi di soccorso nelle acque del Mediterraneo centrale. Secondo l’OIM negli ultimi tre giorni sono annegate oltre 200 persone, una serie di stragi ignorate dall’oipinione pubblica italiana e nascoste dai politici concentrati nel rinnovato attacco contro le ONG. La “banalità” della strage quotidiana in mare costituisce la cifra morale del governo Salvini-Di Maio. Con il sommarsi delle vittime, e l’allontanamento dei testimoni, si vuole produrre una totale assuefazione nella popolazione italiana. Per alimentare altro odio ed altra insicurezza, utili per le prossime scadenze elettorali.

Nelle prime settimane di insediamento del nuovo governo, ed in vista del Consiglio europeo di Bruxelles del 28-29 giugno scorso, il ministero dell’interno ha disposto in modo informale la chiusura dei porti ed il divieto di ingresso nelle acque territoriali, per alcune imbarcazioni delle Organizzazioni non governative che avevano effettuato soccorsi nelle acque internazionali antistanti le coste libiche. Sono state anche ritardate le operazioni di sbarco di centinaia di persone, soccorse da unità militari ( come la nave americana Trenton), o commerciali ( come il cargo Alexander Maersk), che, solo dopo lunghi giorni di attesa, hanno potuto trasbordare i naufraghi che avevamo a bordo e proseguire per la loro rotta. In molti casi si sono trasferite le responsabilità di coordinamento dei soccorsi alle autorità libiche, con i risultati che sono sotto gli occhi di tutti.

Le ultime vicende delle navi umanitarie Acquarius , Lifeline e Open Arms, dopo il sequestro, lo scorso anno, della nave Juventa, ancora bloccata a Trapani, hanno aperto una nuova fase di tensioni anche a livello internazionale, in particolare con il governo maltese e con le autorità spagnole. Il governo italiano ha chiuso i porti alle poche navi umanitarie ancora impegnate nelle attività di ricerca e salvataggio (SAR) sulla rotta del Mediterraneo centrale, mentre si è rilanciata la criminalizzazione delle Ong, e più in generale di chiunque rispetti il dovere di salvare vite umane in mare, malgrado importanti decisioni della magistratura (di Ragusa e di Palermo) riconoscessero come lecite, anzi doverose, le attività di soccorso umanitario delle stesse Ong sotto inchiesta.

Da ultimo si è appreso che ci sarebbero motivi “di ordine pubblico” alla base della decisione del ministro dell’Interno Matteo Salvini di vietare l’accesso ai porti italiani alla Open Arms.
Questi motivi, stando a informazioni che non sono state formalizzate in un provvedimento notificato agli interessati, sarebbero costituiti dalle “vicende giudiziarie” in cui è stata coinvolta la nave delle Ong spagnola, dissequestrata con una sentenza del Gip poi confermata dal tribunale di Ragusa, e dalle “manifestazioni”(rischio proteste) che si sono verificate in occasione del sequestro preventivo alla quale era stata sottoposta nel porto di Pozzallo.

Si configura così come problema di “ordine pubblico” il doveroso espletamento di una operazione SAR che si è svolta nel pieno rispetto della legge e del diritto internazionale, per legittimare un provvedimento, ancora segretato, forse una circolare probabilmente da redigere, del ministro Toninelli, che vieta l’ingresso alle navi delle Ong nelle acque territoriali e nei porti italiani .

L’allontanamento delle ONG per effetto delle “chiusure” informali dei porti, e la istituzione unilaterale di una zona SAR libica, oltre al blocco imposto alle navi umanitarie dalle autorità maltesi, riducono la presenza dei mezzi di soccorso nel Mediterraneo centrale e hanno già comportato un aumento esponenziale delle vittime.

La realizzazione del progetto italiano di istituire una zona SAR , completata con una forte pressione sull’IMO a Londra, sta producendo tutti i suoi effetti mortali, considerando che la Guardia costiera “libica” non può coprire tutte le azioni di soccorso che è chiamata ad operare (spesso da assetti italiani), avendo a disposizione soltanto sei motovedette. Si tratta di mezzi ceduti dai precedenti governi italiani, oggi abbastanza logorati malgrado siano stati curati nella manutenzione dai marinai delle unità italiane, di stanza nel porto di Tripoli, nell’ambito della missione NAURAS. Non si sa come e quando arriveranno in Libia le 12 motovedette promesse alla Guardia costiera di Tripoli da Salvini, che doveva fare approvare la sua proposta in Consiglio dei ministri, approvazione che ancora non c’e’ stata. Una iniziativa che potrebbe infuocare ancora di più lo scontro tra le milizie libiche per il controllo dei porti, e del traffico di gas e petrolio.
La creazione fittizia di una zona SAR libica, che sembra sia stata notificata anche all’IMO, sta legittimando gli interventi più frequenti della Guardia costiera di Tripoli, che arrivano a minacciare anche gli operatori umanitari mentre sono impegnati negli interventi di soccorso in acque internazionali. Interventi di soccorso che sono sempre monitorati dalle autorità militari italiane ed europee, che però non intervengono con la stessa tempestività che permetteva in passato il salvataggio di migliaia di vite.

Il cerchio si chiude. Adesso arriva anche il supporto europeo alla chiusura contro le ONG, anche se non si traduce in alcun atto dotato di forza normativa vinclante. Tutte le politiche europee sull’immigrazione, anche i respingimenti, avverranno “su base volontaria”. Ma le navi di Frontex ( e di Eunavfor Med) rimangono vincolate agli obblighi di soccorso previsti dai Regolamenti europei n.656 del 2014 e 1624 del 2016. Atti normativi, vincolanti anche per i ministri,che subordinano le azioni contro i trafficanti alla salvaguardia della vita delle vittime, non esternazioni di leader sull’orlo di una crisi di nervi alla fine di un Consiglio europeo estenuante ed inconcludente.

L’illegalità di scelte politiche e militari che vanno contro il diritto internazionale viene giustificata con lo spauracchio di manifestazioni democratiche di protesta. Non e’ a rischio soltanto la libertà di manifestazione o il diritto a svolgere attività di assistenza e di soccorso umanitario. Il messaggio lanciato dal governo italiano, e ripreso dal governo maltese, è chiaro, riguarda tutti, non solo i migranti. E’ la strategia mortale della dissuasione, rivolta ai migranti ed agli operatori umanitari. Altro che “pacchia”. Per chi si trova costretto a fuggire dalla Libia, senza alternative sicure per salvare la vita, il rischio del naufragio si fa sempre più concreto. Anche se gli “sbarchi” sono drasticamente calati, rispetto allo scorso anno, è in forte aumento il numero delle vittime, morti e dispersi, abbandonati nelle acque del Mediterraneo.

In questa situazione la magistratura italiana è chiamata a fare rispettare le regole dello stato di diritto e gli impegni assunti dall’Italia con la firma e la ratifica delle Convenzioni internazionali di diritto del mare. Ma è anche importante il contributo della società civile organizzata, delle associazioni, di tutto quel mondo del volontariato che in questi ultimi mesi è stato messo sotto accusa con lo slogan della “lotta al business dell’immigrazione”. Quando erano state proprio le Organizzazioni non governative a denunciare chi faceva affari sulla pelle dei migranti e chi ometteva i controlli, denunce fatte in Parlamento e nel lavoro quotidiano di tanti cittadini solidali. L’attacco contro il sistema di accoglienza è stato utilizzato per delegittimare e bloccare chi portava soccorso in mare, mentre gli stati venivano meno ai loro obblighi di salvataggio. Verranno dalla società civile europea e dagli operatori umanitari le denunce che inchioderanno i responsabili delle stragi per omissione.

Rispetto alle richieste di soccorso, e persino rispetto alle istanze che si stanno proponendo per avere chiarite le basi normative e i contenuti dei provvedimenti amministrativi, sulla base dei quali si sta interdicendo l’ingresso nelle acque territoriali e nei porti italiani alle navi delle ONG, impegnate in attività SAR nelle acque internazionali a nord delle coste libiche, silenzi e ritardi. Si può riscontrare silenzio e ritardo nell’attività delle pubbliche amministrazioni riconducibili al Ministero delle infrastrutture ( quanto al divieto di ingresso) e dell’interno (quanto alle note di rilevazione ed alla dichiarazione di una situazione di pericolo per l’ordine pubblico). Le decisioni dei ministri, su materie così importanti che incidono sulla vita ( e sulla morte) delle persone, non possono essere comunicate sui social, con messaggi Twitter o attraverso Facebook.

Se gli avvistamenti iniziali ed il coordinamento “di fatto” (come rilevato dalla magistratura) della Guardia costiera “libica” sono effettuati da parte di autorità militari italiane, in sinergia con gli assetti aero-navali europei delle missioni Themis di Frontex ed Eunavfor MED, le autorità italiane non possono dismettere la loro responsabilità di soccorso.

In questi casi il ministero dell’interno italiano ha l’obbligo di indicare un porto sicuro (place of safety) di sbarco in Italia, dal momento che la Libia non offre porti sicuri, e che Malta ha negato in diverse occasioni l’attracco a navi commerciali o umanitarie, che avevano operato soccorsi nelle acque del Mediterraneo centrale.

Contro la scelta di chiudere i porti e di interdire l’ingresso delle navi delle ONG nelle acque territoriali, tanto per sbarcare naufraghi soccorsi in alto mare, quanto per effettuare rifornimenti e cambi di equipaggio, occorre rilanciare una forte iniziativa sul piano sociale, politico e legale. Per affermare il diritto alla vita, un diritto incondizionato, che non può essere piegato a finalità politiche o giudiziarie. Per battere quell’ondata di disinformazione e di rancore sociale che sta disintegrando il tessuto umano della nostra Repubblica, e la stessa Unione Europea, indicando nei migranti e in chi li assiste la ragione di tutti i mali che affliggono i cittadini italiani. Come se si trattasse di nemici interni da eliminare. Di fronte a tutto questo, la resistenza è un dovere.

►https://www.a-dif.org/2018/07/01/dopo-lallontanamento-delle-ong-e-strage-quotidiana-sulla-rotta-del-mediterran

La rotta più pericolosa del mondo

Nel primo weekend in cui Tripoli ha coordinato i soccorsi in mare ci sono stati tre naufragi che hanno portato il numero complessivo dei morti e dei dispersi nel solo mese di giugno a 679. Secondo l’Alto commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i rifugiati (Unhcr), il dato in meno di un mese è più che raddoppiato. Matteo Villa, un ricercatore dell’Ispi, ha elaborato i dati dell’Unhcr e dell’Organizzazione internazionale delle migrazioni (Oim) sulle morti registrate in relazione alle partenze dalla Libia e ha stabilito che dal 1 giugno la rotta del Mediterraneo è diventata la più pericolosa al mondo: “Muore una persona ogni dieci”.
Un dato allarmante che riporta il tasso di mortalità e il numero assoluto dei morti ai livelli di quelli registrati prima della riduzione delle partenze nel luglio del 2017. “Dopo la repentina diminuzione delle partenze dal 16 luglio 2017, il numero assoluto dei morti e dei dispersi si è ridotto, ma ora siamo tornati incredibilmente ai livelli di prima”, afferma Villa (il tasso di mortalità invece era comunque aumentato nell’ultimo anno). Per il ricercatore questo fattore è legato a tre elementi: “Le ong sono coinvolte sempre di meno nei salvataggi, i mercantili non intervengono perché temono di essere bloccati per giorni in attesa di avere indicazioni sul porto di sbarco (come è successo al cargo danese Maersk) e la guardia costiera libica non ha né i mezzi né la competenza per occuparsi dei salvataggi”.

https://i.imgur.com/spYaKIP.png

Les tweet de Matteo Villa sur les morts en 2018 :

Since June 1st, #migrant attempted crossings from #Libya have become THE RISKIEST since accurate public recordings started in 2016. ALMOST 1 IN 10 died or went missing upon departure from the Libyan coast bettween June 1st and July 2nd.

https://i.imgur.com/rD1Fndr.png

After the sudden drop in #migrant departures from #Libya since 16 July 2017, the absolute number of dead and missing had abated. Astoundingly, we are now BACK to pre-drop levels. 679 persons have died or gone missing upon leaving Libya since June 1st.

https://i.imgur.com/ZrF7a4s.png

n 2018 so far, only about HALF of those departing from #Libya has made it to Italy (vs 86% last year). 44% have been brought back by the Libyan Coast Guard (vs 12% last year). 4.5% have died or gone missing (vs 2.3% last year).

https://i.imgur.com/Xy0yEN5.png

The increase in absolute dead and missings and in the risk of journey has occurred WHILE the Libyan Coast Guard rescued the highest number of persons in a single month since May 2016.

https://i.imgur.com/kTWUghC.png

Why is this happening: - NGOs carry out less and less SARs, may stop altogether; - commercial ships fear high losses if they do SARs and are held for days waiting for port; - Libyan Coast Guard understaffed and underequipped.

▻https://twitter.com/emmevilla/status/1014068492872704000

data set
►https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ncHxOHIx4ptt4YFXgGi9TIbwd53HaR3oFbrfBm67ak4/edit#gid=0
(si @simplicissimus n’a rien à faire dans les prochains jours...)

MAJOR CORRECTION: dead and missing from Libya since 1 June amount to 565, not 679 as previously stated. Risk of journey skyrocketed from 2.3% in Jan-May 2018 to 7.6% (NOT 9.0%). Absolute levels are still maximum since drop in sea arrivals in July 2017.

▻https://twitter.com/emmevilla/status/1014266248094474240

Open Arms: «La chiusura dei porti è costata 360 morti»

Il fondatore di Open Arms Oscar Camps ha denunciato oggi che il viaggio di rientro a Barcellona della nave ammiraglia della ong catalana dopo la chiusura dei porti di Malta e Italia «è costato 4 giorni e 360 morti».

▻https://www.huffingtonpost.it/2018/07/04/open-arms-la-chiusura-dei-porti-e-costata-360-morti_a_23474709

Record deaths at sea: will ‘regional disembarkation’ help save lives?

Never has it been more dangerous for people in search of protection to make the crossing to Europe. The estimated death rate on boat migration journeys across the Mediterranean has risen from 4 per 1000 in 2015 to 24 per 1000 in the first four months of 2018, according to available data.

While the death rate is higher than ever, the size of migration flows across the Mediterranean has shrunk dramatically. The number of refugees and other migrants who crossed the Mediterranean in June was down 94% compared to the peak of the migration and refugee crisis in 2015. This means that migration policy-makers now have an opportunity to move on from crisis response to a search for long-term solutions.

Yet, Mediterranean boat migration is an increasingly thorny issue for intra-European relations, and a new surge in arrivals remains imaginable. It still dominates the political discourses of all major European countries. In Germany, Angela Merkel’s coalition remains wobbly due to disagreements over migration policy. Anxiety about migration is therefore much higher than the current number of border-crossings would suggest, and continues to shape policy-making. This was evident in the fraught discussions in the lead-up to the agreement reached by the European Council on 29 June. In fact, the pressure to reach agreement and deliver action seems to have overshadowed concerns about the feasibility of the proposed schemes.

https://i.imgur.com/3mWbMcN.png

Responsibility for surging death toll in Central Med laid squarely at Europe’s door

The number of people drowning in the Central Mediterranean or being taken back to squalid detention centres in Libya has surged as a result of European policies aimed at closing the central Mediterranean route, Amnesty International said in a new briefing published today.

https://i.imgur.com/mdBqj3M.png

Lien vers le briefing:
▻https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur30/8906/2018/en

#rapport #Amnesty_international

Combien de migrants sont morts en Méditerranée ? Où sont-ils enterrés ?
L’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM) recense près de 17000 morts et disparus en Méditerranée depuis 2014

Bonjour,

Votre question renvoie vers un tweet de Pierre Sautarel (administrateur de Fdesouche, revue de presse consacrée aux thèmes favoris de l’extrême droite - immigration, sécurité, identité, etc.) qui s’appuie sur une erreur de chiffre dans une dépêche Reuters pour remettre en cause le décompte du nombre de migrants décédés en Méditerranée.

« Plus de 100 000 migrants sont morts noyés [entre la Libye et l’Italie] depuis 2014, selon l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM) », lit-on dans l’extrait du texte de l’agence que poste Sautarel. Et celui-ci de commenter : « Mais pas trace d’un cadavre sur une plage ou dans un filet de pêche… Plus c’est gros plus ça passe… »

De fait, il y a un « 0 » de trop dans la dépêche Reuters dont Sautarel reproduit un extrait. Il s’agit probablement d’une erreur de traduction, puisque sur le site de Reuters, le texte en français fait état de « plus 100 000 morts », mais la version originale en anglais, en compte « more than [plus de] 10 000 ». Cette erreur a donné l’occasion à Pierre Sautarel (et à d’autres) de remettre en cause le décompte des migrants morts, s’appuyant par ailleurs sur le fait que (selon lui) il n’y a aucune trace des cadavres.

Comment, et par qui, sont comptés les morts ? Où sont-ils enterrés ?
16862 morts et disparus en Méditerranée depuis 2014, selon l’OIM

La source de Reuters (et de quasiment tous les médias) sur ce sujet est l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM). Entre le 1er janvier 2014 et le 30 juillet 2018, l’OIM, rattachée à l’ONU, a recensé 5773 « morts », dont on a retrouvé les corps, et 11089 « disparus », dont les dépouilles n’ont pas été récupérées immédiatement après les naufrages mais qui ont généralement été signalés par des survivants.

Au total, l’OIM comptabilise donc 16 862 victimes en Méditerranée en quatre ans et demi.

Selon l’organisation, dans leur immense majorité, ces décès et ces disparitions surviennent en Méditerranée centrale, entre la Libye, la Tunisie, Malte et l’Italie : 14587 morts et disparus dans cette zone selon l’OIM (on retrouve les « plus de 10 000 » dont parle Reuters).

Cela représente plus de 86% du total méditerranéen. Il s’agit de la route migratoire la plus meurtrière au monde, selon l’OIM.
Des sources essentiellement secondaires

L’Organisation internationale pour les migrants collecte ces chiffres via le Missing Migrants Project (Programme des migrants disparus). Dans une publication de 2017, des chercheurs en charge du MMP précisent (en anglais) la méthodologie de cette comptabilité : « La base de données du MMP fournit une vue d’ensemble des données sur les morts des migrants, mais il dépend premièrement de sources secondaires d’information. » Ces sources secondaires sont évaluées en fonction de leurs avantages et de leurs inconvénients.

Dans chaque cas (CheckNews a isolé ceux survenus en Méditerranée) l’OIM recense la date, le « nombre de morts », le « nombre minimum estimé de disparus », « le nombre de survivants ». Et renvoie vers des sources en ligne. A chaque type de source un chiffre (voir la méthodologie de collecte des données) : 1 quand un seul média a rapporté l’événement, 2 pour des témoignages de migrants à l’OIM, 3 quand plusieurs médias en font état, 4 si une organisation non-gouvernementale ou internationale en atteste, et 5 s’il y a au moins une source officielle (étatique ou gardes-côtes notamment) ou plusieurs sources humanitaires.

Par exemple, le 30 juillet une personne meurt et deux survivent dans un naufrage près de Tanger selon un média local arabophone (indice : 1). Autre exemple : le 18 juillet, l’OIM enregistre 19 morts et (au moins) 25 disparus dans un naufrage au nord de Chypre, dont 103 personnes réchappent. Elle s’appuie sur Reuters, CNN en turc et un média turc, qui tiennent leurs infos des gardes-côtes turcs (indice : 5).

L’OIM estime que le décompte n’est pas exhaustif, des cas de décès pouvant ne pas être portés à la connaissance des médias, ONG ou autorités locales. « Dans la plupart des régions, les chiffres sont probablement largement sous-estimés par rapport au nombre de vies perdues », selon un de ses rapports (en anglais).
« Mortes sans laisser de traces »

Autre source pour prendre la mesure des morts sur les routes migratoires : le réseau United for intercultural action. Se fondant également sur les articles de presse et les rapports d’ONG, une équipe basée à Amsterdam a compté, entre 1993 et 2018, 34 361 migrants morts lors de leur voyage vers l’Europe ou après leur arrivée. La liste a été publiée dans le quotidien britannique The Guardian, le 20 juin 2018, journée mondiale des réfugiés. Près de 80% de ces personnes sont mortes en mer.

Le Guardian précise que cette liste non plus n’a pas de prétention exhaustive : « le vrai nombre pourrait être beaucoup plus élevé, puisqu’au fil des ans plusieurs milliers de personnes sont mortes sans laisser de traces lors de leur voyage par la terre ou la mer. »
« Les Etats ne semblent pas faire d’efforts »

Vous nous demandez aussi où sont les dépouilles des noyés de la Méditerranée. Comme nous l’écrivions plus haut, une majorité des corps ne sont pas retrouvés. Interrogée par CheckNews, Julia Black, qui coordonne le Missing Migrants Project à l’OIM fait le point : « 5773 corps et 11 089 disparus ont été enregistrés par le MMP depuis 2014, ce qui veut dire qu’à peu près 34% des migrants morts sont effectivement retrouvés. » Mais, l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations « n’a malheureusement pas de données sur où sont enterrées ces personnes », regrette Julia Black.

« En général, les corps sont récupérés quand cela peut être fait sans compromettre les efforts de sauvetage », résume pour CheckNews Simon Robins, chercheur à l’université de York et responsable du projet Mediterranean Missing (auquel prend part l’OIM), qui vise à retrouver et identifier les morts en mer. Et de déplorer : « Les Etats ne semblent pas faire du tout d’effort pour recenser et publier des données concernant les corps qu’ils récupèrent. Cela est fait par la société civile et l’OIM. »
« Cadavres traités comme des déchets »

D’abord, donc, une majorité des victimes n’est pas retrouvée après les naufrages. Mais quand des corps arrivent sur des plages, la gestion s’avère compliquée. D’autant que « renvoyer une dépouille coûte cher et nécessite de la documentation. Cela n’est fait que si la famille est prête à investir la somme nécessaire et à remplir les papiers administratifs. Surtout, il faut que le corps soit identifié », souligne Simon Robins.

Il incombe donc aux locaux de s’occuper des dépouilles non réclamées. Mediterranean Missing a consacré des rapports à la gestion des corps en Sicile (Italie) et à Lesbos (Grèce). Dans de nombreux cas, impossible d’identifier les migrants. Début 2016, la BBC publiait une enquête rapportant l’existence (d’au moins) 1278 tombes anonymes réparties dans 70 sites entre la Turquie, la Grèce et l’Italie (à l’époque, l’OIM recensait 8412 morts et disparus depuis 2014). Et le média britannique d’écrire : « En Turquie et en Grèce, les autorités locales, qui ont du mal à faire face à l’afflux de migrants et à la quantité inédite de corps qui s’échouent sur leurs plages, ont reconnu ne pas pouvoir tenir un compte précis des enterrements. » Des cimetières anonymes existent aussi en Tunisie, a constaté La Croix, et en Espagne, remarque RFI.

En Libye, l’existence de fosses communes a même été rapportée (ici ou là). Les fondateurs de l’association Last Rights, qui veut donner un nom et une sépulture à tous les morts des migrations, Syd Bolton et Catriona Jarvis, confirment à CheckNews avoir recueilli « plusieurs témoignages » allant dans ce sens : « En Afrique, les autorités sont débordées et on entend parfois parler de cadavres traités comme des déchets. Ce n’est pas le cas, à notre connaissance, en Europe. »
« Catastrophe »

Cependant, « l’Union européenne n’a pas de politique vis-à-vis des migrants morts. C’est un problème qui incombe à chaque Etat, en fonction de sa loi et de ses pratiques nationales et régionales. Ces lois ne sont pas coordonnées ou harmonisées », détaille auprès de CheckNews la juriste Stefanie Grant, qui a rédigé un mémo juridique sur la question (en anglais) pour Mediterranean Missing. En revanche, au mois de juillet 2018, tous les Etats membres à l’exception de la Hongrie ont signé un engagement auprès de l’ONU sur les migrations. Le chapitre « Sauver des vies et faire des efforts coordonnés pour les migrants disparus » impose aux signataires de :

Collecter, centraliser et systématiser les données concernant les corps, et assurer la traçabilité après l’enterrement […] établir des chaînes de coordination au niveau transnational pour faciliter l’identification et l’information des familles […] faire tous les efforts, y compris au travers de la coopération internationale pour retrouver, identifier et rapatrier les restes des migrants décédées à leurs pays d’origine […] et dans le cas d’invididus non identifiés, faciliter l’identification et la récupération des restes mortuaires.

« Il ne manque plus qu’aux dirigeants de faire preuve de bonne volonté, c’est un processus très long », estiment les fondateurs de Last Rights, Syd Bolton et Catriona Jarvis. Ils expliquent à CheckNews que pour l’heure « les municipalités européennes doivent enterrer les morts qui arrivent sur leur territoire », mais qu’en termes de statistiques et de décompte, les pratiques varient d’une ville à l’autre.

Pour les militants de Last Rights, cette situation explique pour partie le scepticisme de certains citoyens devant le drame des migrants : « Si l’Europe avait pris le parti de recenser exactement les disparus en mer et de s’occuper des dépouilles, personne ne pourrait douter de la catastrophe qui se déroule en Méditerranée. »

►http://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2018/08/09/combien-de-migrants-sont-morts-en-mediterranee-ou-sont-ils-enterres_16713

Oltre 1500 persone hanno perso la vita nel #Mediterraneo tra gennaio e luglio 2018. Lungo la rotta del Mediterraneo centrale il tasso di mortalità è triplicato: muore 1 persona ogni 17 rispetto a 1 su 43 nello stesso periodo del 2017

▻https://twitter.com/UNHCRItalia/status/1031858450798665728?s=19