ITALY'S SECURITY BILL 'VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS', MAGISTRATES

ANSA English Media Service
June 10, 2009 Wednesday 1:22 PM CET
Rome, Italy

(ANSA) - June 10 - Italian magistrates on Wednesday warned that a new government security bill will violate the basic human rights of illegal immigrants and their children.

The bill, which was greenlighted by parliament's lower house last month and has now passed to the Senate, includes a measure making illegal immigration a criminal offense and has already come under fire from the centre-left opposition, the Catholic Church and Amnesty International.

The judiciary's self-governing body, the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM), said Wednesday that babies born to illegal immigrants in Italy would be ''deprived of their identity'' under a measure requiring parents to show their permit to stay when asking for a birth certificate.

It said the measure contravenes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Italy, which guarantees minors the right ''to their personal identity and to citizenship from birth.

The CSM also warned that the measure could result in children being more vulnerable to illegal adoptions.

Adult immigrants' right to health would also be violated as a result of making illegal immigration a criminal offense, since this would affect their access to essential public services where ''all public officials'' would effectively have the obligation to report them.

''The concrete risk is that alternative, illegal circuits may be created that offer services which (immigrants) can no longer access from the public system,'' the CSM said.

It also warned that while it would respect its relationship of ''loyal collaboration'' with parliament, it was duty bound to warn that making illegal immigration a criminal offence would lead to the ''total paralysis'' of many judicial offices.

Among other measures, the security bill extends to six months the period immigrants and would-be asylum seekers can be kept in detention centres, authorises civilian patrols - which critics have likened to vigilante groups - and sets a maximum three-year jail term for landlords who rent to illegal aliens.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi last month described the measures as ''absolutely necessary'' to deal with illegal immigration in Italy, saying it sent a message that the country could not accept ''immigrants who have no skills or talents to enter our labour market and thus end up filling the ranks of organised crime''.

A statement from the Italian branch of Amnesty International said that ''what we are witnessing in Italy is a progressive erosion of the respect of human rights for groups which are already vulnerable like migrants, minorities and those seeking asylum''.

A Catholic association dedicated to helping immigrants and the homeless, CNCA, observed that should the measure be passed by the Senate without modification, ''it will be remembered as one of the most shameful bills ever passed in our country''.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/En ... 59&start=3