's making the news headlines of a Libyan patrol boat carrying members of the Italian financial police who yesterday fired on a vessel of Mazara del Vallo guilty for not having stopped immediately by the altar intimatogli 'military boat. But the aggressive attitude of the Libyan security forces against the Italian fishermen, indirectly supported by the increasingly close relations between the two countries, it is not something new. Below is an article of mine published in the weekly paper exactly a year ago. Also suggests that as the reason for the dispute is a different interpretation of the law of the sea.
seized by Libyan patrol boats from Italy DONATE
If it was not a provocation of the President of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, certainly a curious twist of fate. Just recently donated patrol boats from Italy to the Libyan navy to patrol its coastline in order to combat illegal immigration in our country, have been used to seize, from 22 July to 4 August 2009, the trawler fleet of Mazara del Monastir Vallo led by Nicola Asaro, already awarded by the High United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for having saved several times boats of migrants in distress in the Strait of Sicily. An operation, done under threat of confiscation of fishing vessels in the future we ventured into the strip of sea of \u200b\u200b74 miles around Libya and came on the eve of August 30, the day of 'friendship between Italy and Libya. "
"That border goes against international law that establishes the limit to 12 miles of territorial waters of each country - tell fishermen Mazara - Gaddafi, in a decree of 2005 has assumed the right to define Libyan another 60 miles of international waters rich in fish. But the worst is that the Italian government and our Coast Guard shall endeavor to enforce the rules set by the Libyan dictator unilaterally. " Indeed, the site of the Italian navy reads: By decree 37/2005 of 24 February 2005, Libya has declared a protection zone that extends from the fishing 62 miles from the outer limit of territorial waters (12 miles) and in which jurisdiction is exercised to prohibit, unless authorized by the competent authority, all fishing activities. Annexed to the decree is the "Declaration of a Libyan Fisheries Protection Zone in the Mediterranean" which serves to designate, as the legal basis of the initiative, the Protocol of 1995 relating to the Barcelona Mediterranean areas, especially protected, and several agreements between the FAO in marine conservation.
But the attacks and kidnappings against the Italian vessels date back to well before 2005. Vincenzo Pellegrino, captain of the trawler "Queen" (awarded by the UNHCR for a bailout in 2008), recalls the horror of three months detention in a prison in Tripoli in 1979: "I was in a room with 22 people and 5 sq.m. with a poor meal a day. " Subsequently there have been cases in which the vessels themselves were never returned, causing a huge loss for the owners. In 2000 the Libyan soldiers have even caused the death of a fishing boat crew Orchid, entering and causing a fire in the boat which was fishing 30 miles from the North African coast. In the recent case of kidnapping where the victim was fishing boat Monastir and Tulip, the crews were 18 days in port, avoiding prison, but Asaro - captain of Monastir - recalls with pain, the air of a mockery of a Libyan military months ago, got on his boat recalling the episode of 2000. In addition, the seizure of a month of fish and networks is a huge damage to the vessels: the sum of € 30,000 spent fuel, the value of € 60 to 70,000 and 20,000 of the 4 fishing nets, well over 100,000 €. But the fishermen do not intend to give up Mazara: "Fishing in the sea that we need - Peter Russo says the captain - a fleet of 200 vessels such as that of Mazara del Vallo But can not stay in the shallow waters south of Lampedusa. 74 miles of territorial waters, instead of 12 for all other countries too. " Bishop Domenico Mogavero, Bishop of Mazara del Vallo ruled on the case called for a European interest, but need at least considering that the Italian Government, that the disputed sea area, you can establish rules.
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