China News Service, January 28. According to Euronet’s quoting EUN News Agency, on January 27 local time, the United Nations Human Rights Committee stated that in a shipwreck in the Mediterranean in 2013, regarding the right to life of more than 200 immigrants who died, Italy has failed to fulfill its international obligations.

　　According to reports, the United Nations Human Rights Committee is an independent expert organization responsible for monitoring countries’ compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The committee stated in a decision issued on the 27th that Italy failed to respond to the emergency call for help issued by the sinking ship, which had more than 400 adults and children on board.

　　The United Nations Human Rights Committee’s decision was based on a joint complaint filed by four survivors, including three Syrians and one Palestinian, whose relatives were killed in the accident.

　　The accident occurred on October 10, 2013. A few hours after the ship issued an emergency call for help, the Italian authorities stated that the ship was located in a search and rescue zone in Malta and only provided the phone number of the Malta Rescue Coordination Center.

When the Maltese patrol boat arrived, it had sunk.

After the Maltese authorities offered emergency assistance, Italy sent a naval ship.

　　The United Nations Human Rights Committee pointed out that more than 200 people, including 60 children, were killed in the ocean due to delayed actions.

Some surviving immigrants sought justice through the Italian judiciary and referred their cases to the Human Rights Commission because Italy violated their right to life by failing to take appropriate measures to save their relatives.

　　The survivor also filed a parallel complaint against Malta, but was rejected by the Human Rights Committee because the plaintiff did not file a lawsuit in a Maltese court before filing a lawsuit with the Committee, which was a requirement of the Committee to hear the case.

　　Hélène Tigroudja, a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, said the case is complicated.

She said that the accident occurred in international waters in the Malta search and rescue zone, but the location was indeed the closest to Italy and the location of a warship.

If the Italian authorities happened after the distress.

Immediately give instructions to its navy ships and coast guard, then rescuers should arrive within two hours before the ship sinks.

　　Tigrogia pointed out that international law of the sea requires States parties to take steps to protect the lives of all individuals in trouble at sea.

She said that even if the shipwreck is not in an Italian search and rescue zone, the Italian authorities have the responsibility to support search and rescue missions to save the lives of immigrants.

Italy’s lag in action directly affected the lives of hundreds of people.

　　In its decision, the UN Human Rights Committee also urged Italy to conduct independent and timely investigations and prosecute the perpetrators, and called on Italy and other countries involved in the tragedy to provide effective compensation for those killed in the accident.

　　At around 1 am on October 10, 2013, a fishing boat carrying more than 400 migrants, including children, set off from Libya to Italy.

A few hours later, a ship attacked the ship in international waters, causing the ship to sink. The location at the time was 113 kilometers south of Lampedusa in Italy and 218 kilometers south of Malta.

　　According to the joint complaint, an immigrant on the ship called the Italian maritime emergency number, saying that their ship was sinking and released the ship’s coordinates.

In the next few hours, the migrant tried several times and was not told that they were in the Malta search and rescue zone until 1 pm, so the Italian authorities forwarded his emergency call to the Maltese authorities.

Despite the emergency, the Italian authorities only provided the migrants with the telephone number of the Malta Rescue Coordination Center.

　　After several calls, the immigrants became increasingly desperate.

When the Maltese patrol boat arrived at the scene at 5:50 pm, it had sunk.

According to the emergency request of Malta, Italy finally instructed the naval ship (ITS Libra) located near the ship to rescue after 6 o'clock.

(Huang Xin)