French justice reopens investigation into the tragedy of the "coffin boat" off the coast of Libya
The “coffin boat” drama preceded the influx of refugees since 2015. Here, an inflatable boat with migrants waits to be rescued near Libya, September 15, 2022. © Petros Karadjias / AP
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French justice reopened Thursday, September 22 the investigation into suspicions of inaction by Western navies against the "
coffin boat
".
In March 2011, a boat drifted for two weeks off the coast of Libya, with 72 African migrants on board, 63 of whom died.
The relaunch of the procedure comes after ten years of stalemate and insistence from two survivors, who believe that several armies present in the region had not reacted despite knowing their distress.
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Since 2012, complaints for "
failure to assist a person in danger
" have followed one another, but have been followed by a dismissal and dismissal.
At the end of March 2011, an inflatable boat left Tripoli
for Italy
, with 50 men on board, 20 women, some of them pregnant, and two babies: all from Africa, including 47 from Ethiopia.
Quickly running out of fuel, the passengers will live two weeks of nightmare where, according to the survivors, “
thirst, hunger, the smell of corpses push some of them to jump into the water
”.
The boat is photographed by a military plane, overflown twice by helicopters, crossed by at least two fishing boats.
Then the distress calls reach the Italian coastguards, the NATO HQ in Italy and the ships in the area.
Several European armies were then engaged in Libya, but no one reacted.
► To read also: Frontex was aware of illegal deportations of migrants to Greece, according to a report
Joinder of proceedings from four European countries
It is now a new hope for the two plaintiffs who survived these two weeks of adrift which had cost the lives of 63 of the 72 people on board.
The Court of Appeal invalidated the second dismissal pronounced in 2018 in this case, thus relaunching the investigation.
The new investigation could go further than the previous ones because the Paris Court of Appeal ordered the joining of the proceedings carried out by the Belgian, Spanish and Italian justices, the magistrates also requiring the logbooks of all the buildings and aircraft present on area.
The measure will make it possible to better shed light on the contradictions in the statements, in particular, of the French army, and this satisfies a request from the survivors, who are seeking to identify the nationality of the military aircraft that they say they have encountered during their ordeal, without no one comes
to help them
.
“
They want to know why there are people from an army that saw them die, and nothing has been done
”
For Stephane Maugendre, their lawyer, these documents should cut short
the strategy of the States
, including France, which reject responsibility in this affair:
“
The two people I am assisting in this case want to know why the two times a helicopter flew over them, there was no news afterwards, why a building belonging to who knows which army came around when babies were dead, when their water canisters were empty, there was no help.
They want to know why there are people from an army, maybe the French one, who saw them die or dying, and nothing was done.
»
At the end of these additional investigations, it will be up to the investigating judge to decide whether to close the case again or recommend prosecution.
► To read also: France: migrants take more and more risks to cross the Channel
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