It took 16 years for the Italian government to admit that the state practiced torture in Genoa during the G8 in 2001.
Italy closes six pending cases before the European Court of Human Rights for violation of article 3 of the Convention that prohibits torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. The plea agreement is an acknowledgment of guilt.
The six citizens, victims of violence inflicted in the Bolzaneto barracks, had requested the intervention of Strasbourg, denouncing the ineffectiveness of criminal convictions handed down by the Italian courts. In 2013, the Italian Supreme Court had rejected the request to appeal the torture crime. They agreed — the only ones among the 65 Italian and foreigner applicants — to the “amicable resolution” proposed by the government of Rome. The state will pay a sum of €45,000 each, for moral and material damages, as well as defense costs.
With the agreement accepted by Alfarano, Alessandra Battista, Marco Bistacchia, Anna De Florio, Gabriella Cinzia Grippaudo and Manuela Tangari, the government claims to have “acknowledged cases of ill-treatment similar to those suffered by those affected in Bolzaneto as well as the absence of appropriate laws.” And the European Court of Human Right reports “is committed to take all necessary measures to ensure compliance with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights in the future, including the obligation to conduct an effective investigation and the existence of criminal penalties to punish ill-treatment and torture.”