FOU, Alm.del - 2013-14 - Bilag 68: Henvendelse fra formændene for det italienske parlaments udenrigs- og forsvarsudvalget om Indiens tilbageholdelse af to italienske flådeofficerer

Dear Colleague,ahead of the forthcoming Interparliamentary Conference for the CommonForeign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy, we arewriting to you in our capacity as Chairpersons of the Foreign Affairs and DefenceCommittees of the Italian Parliament in relation to the case of the two non-commissioned officers of the Italian Navy Infantry, First Class Captain MassimilianoLatorre and Second Captain Salvatore Girone, who have been detained in India fortwo years now.The case has come to the attention of Europe and the international communitybecause the two Italian marines have been accused of the death of two Indian citizensfollowing an incident that occurred at sea in February 2012 in international waters,off the coast of India, during a counter-piracy surveillance mission for the security oftrade in compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions on the fight against piracy.As you might be aware, on 10thFebruary 2014 the Indian prosecutingauthority, after two years’ silence, formally asked the Supreme Court for the twoItalian officers to be tried under India’s anti-terrorism and anti-piracy legislation.It is clear that Italy deems the situation to be absolutely unacceptable.As already emphasised by Italy’s President of the Republic, GiorgioNapolitano, during his recent visit to the European Parliament, this is a case ofcommon interest for Europe as a whole, as the two marines were on board an Italianship while on duty during an official international counter-piracy operation,supported by the European Union and by individual Member States.In relation to this case, the European Union has spoken with one voice as thePresident of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso stated that “anydecision on the case may have an overall European Union-India relations and will beassessed carefully”.The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs andSecurity Policy, Catherine Ashton, also expressed the serious concerns of theEuropean Union on the case, which risks having a negative impact on the effortsmade by the EU and at a global level in the fight against piracy.The Italian Parliament as a whole is following the developments of the casevery closely and with great concern, also in light of the serious repercussions that thisdeplorable precedent might have on the certainty of international law and theeffectiveness of the action undertaken for peace and security within the framework of

international missions, to which Italy has been contributing with strongdetermination.Against this backdrop, a delegation of the Foreign Affairs and DefenceCommittees of the Italian Parliament representing all political forces visited Delhi inlate January, where it held meetings with diplomatic representatives of a number ofEuropean countries, together with the Head of the EU Delegation, and reaffirmedour willingness to open up a new channel for dialogue through parliamentarydiplomacy so as to help accelerate a positive solution of the dispute.Following the January visit, also looking ahead to the Conference of Speakersand Presidents of EU Parliaments, the President of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies,Laura Boldrini, addressed an appeal to the President of the European Parliament,Martin Schulz, in order to draw the attention of the Members of the EuropeanParliament to the case, and to get support for the Italian request for the application ofinternational law and for a prompt solution.At this stage, Italy has requested that the case be dealt with in compliancewith international law without further delay and that the two marines be granted allsafeguards under the rule of law, including the possibility to return immediately totheir home country, taking into consideration that they have been deprived of theirpersonal liberty for two years without any official charges.We would be very grateful if you could bring this case to the attention of themembers of your Committee, also with a view to adopting any possible initiative thatyou might deem useful for its equitable solution.