Survivors of left-to-die migrant tragedy file complaint against Belgian army

Three survivors of a tragedy that caused the deaths of 63 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea in April 2011, have filed a complaint at the Brussels Tribunal of First Instance against the Belgian army for failing to provide assistance to persons in distress.

The complaint, lodged with the support of a coalition of NGOs, alleges that in April 2011, as the conflict in Libya was at its height, Belgian's military forces present in the area received distress signals from the migrants' boat and failed to respond, violating the obligation to assist persons in danger.

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As a result, 72 people were left to drift at sea for 15 days, despite their calls for help being registered and direct contact with an airplane, helicopters and military vessels.

"A helicopter flew over our boat four or five times. It came really close to us. We could see the pilots. We thought it was going to come back to save us. But nobody came," said one of the survivors of the tragedy.

The case also calls into question the responsibility of Italian, French, Spanish, British, Canadian and U.S military forces present in the area. The survivors have already lodged complaints in Italy, France and Spain. Following unsatisfactory responses from the U.K, the U.S.A. and Canada, where victims are unable to launch proceedings themselves, requests for information have been submitted under freedom of information laws, in order to obtain details on the precise positions and actions of their armed forces at the time of these events.

"The indifference shown by military forces present in the area led to the deaths of 63 people. This is unacceptable. The victims and the survivors deserve justice," declared the lawyers of the coalition.

An investigation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, published in April 2012, concluded that numerous opportunities to rescue those on board were lost and that the flag States of vessels close to the boat violated their obligation to rescue people in distress.

In a recent judgement concerning Italy's treatment of migrants trying to reach Europe by sea, the European Court for Human Rights qualified the indifference shown towards such people as intolerable and affirmed that the Mediterranean Sea is not a legal vacuum.