The investigation focuses on crimes against humanity committed against people on the move on the Central Mediterranean route between 2014 and 2019, where over 25,000 people drowned and 150,000 others were abducted, tortured, and enslaved in Libya under EU-backed border policies. It alleges that two key deterrence strategies, the termination of Italy’s Operation Mare Nostrum, which caused mass drownings, and the EU-Libya cooperation agreements enabling forced returns, constitute deliberate acts of murder, deportation, and enslavement. Supported by extensive evidence, including internal EU documents, witness testimonies, and UN reports, the case was admitted by the ICC (International Criminal Court) in 2020 within the Libya situation. A 2023 UN Fact-Finding Mission confirmed EU complicity, yet the ICC Prosecutor has taken no substantive action. The investigation now seeks a full ICC inquiry into the roles and responsibilities of 122 EU and member state officials implicated in these ongoing crimes.
