Relocation of Torture and ‘State Torture’. Readmission Agreements, Externalisation of Borders and Closure of Ports in the Mediterranean Sea

The aim of this essay is to focus on a present and important problem, i.e., the rejecting of people coming from Libya together with the closing of harbours for migrants and the criminalisation and obstruction towards the NGOs that are engaged in saving human beings in the Mediterranean Sea. The text argues how such attitudes are crimes against humanity, comparable to the infringement of prohibition of torture and of inhuman or degrading treatments. Responsibility certainly lies with who personally practise torture, but the European States governments and the European Union Institutions cannot actually disclaim liability.