Interview with Nello Scavo, author of “Libyagate”
When international organizations started talking about war crimes perpetrated in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, European public opinion has rightly been shocked, demanding clarity. Yet, identical facts have been occurring for years Libyabut the numerous complaints are not followed by a similar interest on the part of the information. Affaritaliani.it explores the topic further In the Excavationflagship signature de “The Future”. His journalistic investigations have earned him several awards (deserved), but also serious threats, for which it was necessary to put him under guard. Not at all intimidated, Scavo has just published “Libyagate – Investigations, dossiers, shadows and silences” (Vita e Pensiero, 102 pages, 13 euros), which pierces the veil of silence on what is happening.
Why is there so much reticence about the Libyan drama?
“I think it is due to the strong embarrassment created by the direct involvement of various political, economic and financial exponents, both Italian and Maltese. There have also been convictions of torturers operating in those prison camps that Italy directly or indirectly supports. For example, shortly after the famous collision of Carola Rackete’s ship with a patrol boat in Lampedusa, three migrants were arrested, as recognized by other migrants as their torturers. Each of them now has a second-degree sentence of twenty years and with the benefit of the abbreviated procedure, otherwise the years would have been thirty. Initially a controversy arose from those who claimed that NGOs brought criminals to Italy, but then the discussion died down, probably because it was understood that these torturers worked in Libyan state prison camps, on which Italy and the ‘Europe have a bad conscience. And then you prefer to keep quiet”.
And, in the silence, the agreements between Italy and Libya have been going on for some time now, even if the governments change…
“Indeed: the agreements were automatically renewed on Thursday 2 February, as per the program every two years. And so we have reached the sixth year”.
Yet there would be many reasons for second thoughts, both by those who criticize the behavior of NGOs, and by those who instead underline that crimes against humanity are underway in Libya that are completely similar to those reported in Ukraine…
“Even worse crimes, in some ways, because they have been documented for so many years. Between the International Criminal Court in The Hague and the report of the Secretary General of the United Nations, there are at least 24 reports denouncing these violations, naming names and surnames. Everyone can have the idea they want about the investigations by newspapers and NGOs, but it is since 2011 that the institutions have been documenting these facts, with quarterly updates. I have been wondering for some time why a parliamentary commission is not set up on what is happening in the Mediterranean, including the role of NGOs, so as to shed light on everything and possibly sanction those who work in the shadows. The answer is always silence”.
How do you explain it?
“Probably because embarrassing things would emerge from an investigation, such as visits to Italy by disreputable Libyan exponents. Suffice it to say that the new Libyan Undersecretary of the Interior Trabelsi (who recently met with the Italian government delegation) has been reported by UN inspectors since 2018 as one of the main oil traffickers: he would be charged 3,500 dollars for each tanker of naphtha that goes to Tunisia. Everything is quite open, but the complicated thing was discovering the connections: what binds a Libyan boss to Matteo Messina Denaro? It took some time for that to emerge.”
What connection have you discovered? And what changes after the arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro?
“Probably new terminals will be found, because mediation was mainly through the Catania and Maltese clans. In the province of Trapani there was a hydrocarbon ‘tax warehouse’ with a turnover of several million a day, where it was discovered that a large part of the oil smuggled from Libya ended up. Matteo Messina Denaro’s nominees had infiltrated here, but it was then placed under the control of the Court. Now let’s hope that things will work better, even if some time ago there was a paradoxical case: some of our ships hunted down smugglers but replenished right in one of their depots, unbeknownst to the Navy! The mafias always find a loophole”.
So, is the situation in Libya the result of intertwining interests: from those of European politicians who want to limit the arrival of migrants to those of those who instead aim to make money?
“That’s right, especially in this period of energy crisis. In fact, there are very strong tensions in Libya: someone has rejected the agreement with Italy and there has been a drop in gas exports on the very day of Giorgia Meloni’s visit. The militias that control the security of the Libyan state oil facilities (granted under concession to foreign private individuals) are the same ones that deal with the trafficking of human beings and arms. The case of Zawyah is exemplary because ‘only’ the trafficking of people and oil was intercepted, but also that of drugs arriving from Central America, with ships destined for Italy. Among the militiamen involved in these matters, the most famous case is that of Bija, long-time head of the Zawyah coast guard and accused of carrying out oil trafficking from that port. He has always defended himself by saying that he seized the traffickers’ tankers, but we have managed to reconstruct that he actually did it, yes, but to the detriment of the opposing clans ”.
So, is a huge economic business being played out on the skin of migrants?
“Demanding respect for human rights is difficult for an interlocutor who has the upper hand: if Europe wants gas, it is forced to deal with these people. I realize that politics now has to manage a very complicated situation, but this depends on the fact that for years a system of relationships has been legitimized that has placed us in this condition. These characters turn the taps on and off. It will not be a coincidence that the departures of migrants have dropped immediately after the recent eight billion agreements, a figure that can change the life of a country in which just 5/6 million people live. The sea is not particularly rough, yet the flow has slowed down. But I believe that the boats will leave again very soon, to then start the negotiations again”.
How can we get out of this vicious circle?
“I could say that it’s not up to me to find the solutions, but I’m not cowardly. I’m saying the more business you do with the bosses, the harder it will be to find your way out. We have made it clear to the Libyans that we are afraid of the arrival of migrants and therefore we are being blackmailed. They know that they can affect the careers of European politicians, especially those who have promised their electorate to block or at least slow down landings. Every boat that leaves is a signal to Europe”.
In the book you tell the barbarism of the tortures that take place in the Libyan concentration camps. How do you explain such a high level of cruelty? Is it just to push the prisoners to pay a ransom and be released or is there more?
“There is more. There is a form of racism, especially towards sub-Saharans, who are considered inferior beings. Rape, also widely practiced on men, has the very purpose of humiliating the victims. It is different for other ethnic groups, such as the Bengalis, for example, who are still treated very badly, even tortured and killed, but not in the systematic way that concerns sub-Saharans. The wickedness of torture and abuse escalates daily, with new techniques increasingly cruel. Sometimes extreme violence is also used to ‘set an example’ and keep large groups of prisoners under control (up to 1,500) who, by uniting, could turn against their jailers. The regime of terror they have set up makes that impossible: in fact there have never been any mass uprisings. And then the dream of staying alive and then arriving in Europe is so strong that it pushes the prisoners to undergo any kind of torture, without trying to escape”.
A real hell…
“Of course, the overall picture is not encouraging, but it is important to talk about it and carry out inquiries, even at an international level. ‘Libyagate’ takes its name from the investigation involving figures close to the Maltese Labor government, linked to organized crime, who were in turn being investigated for the killing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the victim of an attack following her investigations. The mechanism is very intricate, complex (and expensive) to follow even on a journalistic level. We did it, but alternating with the Guardian and Irpimedia. This also answers your initial question as to why there is little talk about it. Instead it is essential to do so and I thank you and Affaritaliani.it for your attention. By dint of insisting, something is moving”
What are the latest developments?
“I start by saying that Libya, as you know, is not a member of the International Criminal Court. However, the judges in The Hague were able to intervene because there was a request (a ‘referral’, in technical jargon) from the UN Security Council. This mandate authorized investigations only into war crimes, not into others. Fortunately, however, the principle has passed that crimes against migrants are also considered war crimes, because they are an integral part of the conflict in Libya. It was therefore a fundamental step. We know that a few weeks ago the prosecutor’s office asked for international arrest warrants, but the names of the interested parties are not yet known, because the court is expected to validate this request”.
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