CAT/C/64/D/742/2016
No. 2 (2007) on the implementation of article 2, considered that article 3 obligations also
extended to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments (para. 6), and that that followed the
jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee 15 and the European Court of Human
Rights.16 Suggesting that the complainant should submit a complaint against Italy if he were
to be deported to Eritrea would be deferring the State party’s responsibility towards the
protection of the complainant’s human rights.
5.4
The complainant notes that the authorities of the State party have not undertaken any
individual evaluation of his case. The State party has not invoked any report on which it
bases its statement that Italy has the necessary medical infrastructure to treat his
psychological needs. Instead, it merely relies on judgments of the European Court of
Human Rights, which are mostly from 2013, namely before the high influx of migrants in
2015 and 2016. Today, a number of reports describe the lack of access to accommodation
and medical treatment for asylum seekers in Italy. The complainant cites, in particular, the
most recent report by the Swiss Refugee Council, 17 according to which there are structural
failures in the current sheltering system, in particular the living conditions and the
dissemination of information. Chance often determines if an asylum seeker is referred to
the relevant shelter. Consequently, some persons may end up living in the streets and
waiting months before they can submit an asylum request. The latest Asylum Information
Database report underlines that the living conditions in shelters are not suitable for asylum
seekers. 18 Furthermore, a regional report by the International Rehabilitation Council for
Torture Victims also describes the lack of specific procedures in place in Italy to ensure the
identification of victims of torture. 19 Despite an improvement in the identification of
victims of torture following the implementation of a project between 2007 and 2012 by the
Italian network for asylum seekers who are torture survivors, the project ended in 2012 due
to lack of funding.20
5.5
According to reports by Doctors without Borders, 21 many accommodation centres
for asylum seekers lack psychological support services. Although accommodation centres
should facilitate access to medical services through the Italian public health system, such
access is not always guaranteed, and the lack of a timely monitoring system and sanctions
makes the implementation of these services discretionary. Also, social exclusion of asylum
seekers and the lack of interpretation and translation services seriously limit potential
access to health-care services. In any event, medical services provided through the Italian
health-care system are not specially conceived to treat conditions typically affecting asylum
seekers and refugees, which are largely different from those affecting the Italian
population.22 Doctors without Borders has determined that “procedures for mental health
assessment within the [Italian health system] are inadequate or completely absent”, that the
“identification of vulnerabilities and transfer of patients to ad hoc medical facilities is slow
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
8
See Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 20 (1992) on the prohibition of torture or other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, para. 9.
European Court of Human Rights, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece (application No. 30696/09),
judgment of 21 January 2011; V.M. and others v. Belgium (application No. 60125/11), judgment of 17
November 2016; and Tarakhel v. Switzerland.
Swiss Refugee Council, Reception Conditions in Italy: Report on the Current Situation of Asylum
Seekers and Beneficiaries of Protection, in Particular Dublin Returnees, in Italy (Bern, August 2016).
Asylum Information Database, Country Report: Italy — Update 2016 (February 2017).
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, “Falling through the cracks: asylum
procedures and reception conditions for torture victims in the European Union” (Copenhagen, 2016).
The project was created to treat asylum seekers who were victims of torture by providing access to
rehabilitation services and specialized medical and psychological treatment. This project ran out of
funding in 2012.
Reports by Doctors without Borders, “Neglected trauma — asylum seekers in Italy: an analysis of
mental health distress and access to healthcare” (Rome, 15 July 2016), and “Fuori Campo, richiedenti
asilo e rifugiati in Italia: insediamenti informali e marginalità sociale” (Rome, March 2016).
The complainant cites the Italian Refugee Council report, “The streets of integration — experimental
research on the qualitative and quantitative level of integration of beneficiaries of international
protection present in Italy for at least three years” (June 2012).