Extinction Rebellion kids protest against climate change in Turin – ANSA
After the criticisms of jurists and the appeals of the opposition, the perplexities and doubts of the Council of Europe are now also being noted on the controversial government security bill, approved in the Chamber and currently being examined in the Senate. Despite the soft tones of institutional diplomacy, the commissioner for human rights of the international body, Michael O'Flaherty, sent a letter to the President of the Italian Senate, Ignazio La Russa, on 16 December, containing several critical considerations on the bill. The president of the Palazzo Madama assembly responded to the letter with another letter, registered on 19 December, i.e. yesterday. In the text, which Future has viewed, the Senate offices have communicated to the Council of Europe that they have forwarded the message, “for possible follow-up”, to the Minister for Relations with Parliament Luca Ciriani and to the presidents of the Constitutional Affairs and Justice commissions, Alberto Balboni and Giulia Bongiorno, where the measure is being examined.
La Russa's anger: unacceptable interference in the sovereign decisions of Parliament
In the afternoon, the president of the Senate gave vent to his irritation at the letter. “I have instructed the Senate offices to reject the unacceptable claim of O'Flaherty, commissioner for human rights of the Council of Europe, to convey to all senators his request not to vote on the security bill which is otherwise still being examined before the competent commissions”, snaps Ignazio La Russa. The letter arrived at the Senate offices, he explains, “while I was in Bulgaria visiting the Italian contingent stationed within NATO and I found it an unacceptable interference in the autonomous and sovereign decisions of a parliamentary assembly”. The offices, he adds, “on my instructions, however, sent the letter to the Minister of Relations with Parliament, Senator Ciriani, also in consideration of the fact that it is primarily up to the Government to maintain relations with the European institutions. The same letter was also sent, for simple knowledge, I abstained from any consideration to the presidents of the two commissions involved”. Beyond the official documents, therefore, “my personal opinion is that I found it not only unconventional but contrary to any democratic principle – the second official in charge of the State continues – that Mr Michael O'Flaherty (to me until now completely unknown ) even asks not to vote on a law whose text is still being prepared and being examined by the Commissions”. Personally, insists La Russa, “I don't agree with the arguments of that letter, but what matters, and what I find unacceptable, is that we want to influence the will of our majority and opposition Senators during the process of drafting a law, almost as if they were incapable of evaluating its contents and consequences independently”. From the opposition, several exponents of the centre-left however criticize his assessments: “The misfortune of seeing La Russa in action is daily, he often says random phrases, like the one today – observes the leader of Action, Carlo Calenda caustically -. There is a lack of sense of institutions, a President of the Senate who speaks of 'democratic intrusion'. A democratic intrusion is that of Elon Musk who says: vote AfD in Germany. The fact that the Council of Europe tell you something about a rule, it's normal because we are in Europe”.
“Senators should abstain from adopting” the new law
The letter, released today, contains several biting passages. Some provisions of the bill, writes the commissioner, “they restrict the right to demonstrate and express oneself peacefully”. And, in his opinion, “senators should refrain from adopting it unless it is substantially amended to ensure that it complies with Council of Europe human rights standards.” On the merits, O'Flaherty believes that “Articles 11, 13, 14, 24, 26 and 27, which introduce vaguely defined offenses and include other severe restrictions, create space for arbitrary and disproportionate application, targeting activities which represent a legitimate exercise of freedom of peaceful assembly or expression”.
Restrictions on prisoners' rights
In the letter, O'Flaherty also complains about the possibility that the text, if approved, “will also limit the rights of people detained in prisons or immigration detention centers”. The commissioner recalls how “prisoners continue to enjoy the right to freedom of expression, which includes some forms of peaceful protest that may involve passive resistance”. This means that, despite the limitations associated with their prison status, people in prison cannot be excluded from the right to demonstrate (for example to contest the conditions in which they are detained, which various supranational justice bodies have often judged not always compliant to international standards). Not only that: the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights believes “that several measures within the bill appear specifically designed to target environmental protestors, including young human rights defenders.” And precisely on this, a crackdown in Italy seems to already be underway, given the fact that – warns the high representative of the international body – his office “has already observed an increase in reports from Italy of legal actions and restrictive measures against individuals advocating urgent action to protect the environment, including through the implementation of recent legislation.”
The Democratic Party: serious comments from the Council of Europe
The letter was immediately relaunched by the Democratic Party, which with Senator Sandra Zampa pointed out how “the argued and serious comments on the security bill by Michael O'Flaherty, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, confirm the enormous concern expressed by the Democratic Party, by many constitutionalists and jurists, as well as by civil society regarding rules that are harmful to the freedom of Italian citizens”. The Democratic Party therefore joins “the request that Commissioner O'Flaherty addressed in recent days with impeccable correctness to the President of the Senate La Russa, and through him to the senators, not to approve without the appropriate changes” rules that introduce “crimes defined in vague terms and include other severe restrictions.” This is, observes Zampa, “a very serious alarm that must awaken everyone's consciences, not only those in the opposition but those who support the government majority with their vote. It is possible that among them there is no one who has heart democracy, freedom and the rule of law? We turn to them: help us change the most risky and unacceptable rules. Do not contribute – this is the appeal to the majority launched by the dem senator – to write a black page in the Italian democratic history”.
