CASE OF KHLAIFIA AND OTHERS v. ITALY
Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-1 - Lawful arrest or detention;Article 5-1-f - Expulsion);Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-2 - Information on reasons for arrest;Prompt information);Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-4 - Review of lawfulness of detention);No violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Degrading treatment;Inhuman treatment) (Substantive aspect);No violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Degrading treatment;Inhuman treatment) (Substantive aspect);No violation of Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 - Prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens-{general} (Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 - Prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens);Violation of Article 13+3 - Right to an effective remedy (Article 13 - Effective remedy) (Article 3 - Degrading treatment;Inhuman treatment;Prohibition of torture);No violation of Article 13+P4-4 - Right to an effective remedy (Article 13 - Effective remedy) (Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 - Prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens-{general};Prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens);Non-pecuniary damage - award (Article 41 - Non-pecuniary damage;Just satisfaction)
Alena Poláčková;András Sajó;Angelika Nußberger;Dmitry Dedov;Erik Møse;Georgios A. Serghides;Guido Raimondi;Helen Keller;Khanlar Hajiyev;Kristina Pardalos;Krzysztof Wojtyczek;Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos;Luis López Guerra;Mārtiņš Mits;Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska;Nebojša Vučinić;Paul Lemmens;Robert Spano;Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström;Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer;Georges Ravarani;Pere Pastor Vilanova
10. The applicants were born in 1983, 1987 and 1988 respectively. Mr Khlaifia (“the first applicant”) lives in Om Laarass (Tunisia); Mr Tabal and Mr Sfar (“the second and third applicants”) live in El Mahdia (Tunisia). 11. On 16 September 2011 in the case of the first applicant, then the next day, 17 September, in the case of the second and third applicants, the applicants left Tunisia with others on board rudimentary vessels heading for the Italian coast. After several hours at sea, their vessels were intercepted by the Italian coastguard, which escorted them to a port on the island of Lampedusa. The applicants arrived on the island on 17 and 18 September 2011 respectively. 12. The applicants were transferred to an Early Reception and Aid Centre (Centro di Soccorso e Prima Accoglienza – “CSPA”) on the island of Lampedusa at Contrada Imbriacola where, after giving them first aid, the authorities proceeded with their identification. According to the Government, on this occasion individual “information sheets” were filled in for each of the migrants concerned (see paragraph 224 below); this is disputed by the applicants (see paragraph 222 below). 13. They were accommodated in a part of the centre reserved for adult Tunisians. According to the applicants, they were held in an overcrowded and dirty area and were obliged to sleep on the floor because of the shortage of available beds and the poor quality of the mattresses. They had to eat their meals outside, sitting on the ground. The centre was kept permanently under police surveillance, making any contact with the outside world impossible. 14. The applicants remained in the CSPA until 20 September, when a violent revolt broke out among the migrants. The premises were gutted by fire and the applicants were taken to a sports complex on Lampedusa for the night. At dawn on 21 September they managed, together with other migrants, to evade the police surveillance and walk to the village of Lampedusa. From there, with about 1,800 other migrants, they started a demonstration through the streets of the island. After being stopped by the police, the applicants were taken first back to the reception centre and then to Lampedusa airport. 15. On the morning of 22 September 2011 the applicants were flown to Palermo. After disembarking they were transferred to ships that were moored in the harbour there. The first applicant was placed on the Vincent, with some 190 other people, while the second and third applicants were put on board the Audace, with about 150 others. 16. The applicants described the conditions as follows. All the migrants on each vessel were confined to the restaurant areas, access to the cabins being prohibited. They slept on the floor and had to wait several hours to use the toilets. They could go outside onto the decks twice a day for only a few minutes at a time. They were allegedly insulted and ill-treated by the police, who kept them under permanent surveillance, and they claimed not to have received any information from the authorities. 17. The applicants remained on the ships for a few days. On 27 September 2011 the second and third applicants were taken to Palermo airport pending their removal to Tunisia; the first applicant followed suit on 29 September. 18. Before boarding the planes, the migrants were received by the Tunisian Consul. In their submission, the Consul merely recorded their identities in accordance with the agreement between Italy and Tunisia of April 2011 (see paragraphs 36-40 below). 19. In their application the applicants asserted that at no time during their stay in Italy had they been issued with any document. Annexed to their observations, the Government, however, produced three refusal-of-entry orders dated 27 and 29 September 2011 that had been issued in respect of the applicants. Those orders, which were virtually identical and drafted in Italian with a translation into Arabic, read as follows: “The Chief of Police (questore) for the Province of Agrigento Having regard to the documents in the file, showing that (1) on ‘17 [18] September 2011’ members of the police force found in the province of ‘Agrigento’, near the border of: ‘island of Lampedusa’, Mr [surname and forename] born ... on [date] ... ‘Tunisian’ national ... not fully identified, ‘undocumented’ (sedicente); (2) the alien entered the territory of the country by evading the border controls; (3) the identification (rintraccio) of the alien took place on/immediately after his arrival on national territory, and precisely at: ‘island of Lampedusa’; WHEREAS none of the situations [provided for in] Article 10 § 4 of Legislative Decree no. 286 of 1998 is present; CONSIDERING that it is appropriate to proceed in accordance with Article 10 § 2 of Legislative Decree no. 286 of 1998;