Thread by @shatzomer

#Pylos. What to say that hasn't been said +25,000 times before. That won't play a role similar to the feeling the culprits express for the poor fates of their victims.

We know the truth. We know that we are being lied to for years. They know we know. They also know victims and journalists will reveal their lies at some point. They know they can't detain the survivors forever.

But they don't care. They know it will take few days to get the facts straight. In the meantime some other news will be produced, perhaps another shipwreck, and we will move on and start over: the false press releases of Frontex et al., the concern of the Commission et al., ...

... the shock of the good Samaritans, the analysis of the experts, the opinion of the lawyers, the hearings at the parliament, the pseudo investigations of the governments. Of course, the tweets like this one.

Everything is part of a premeditated and meticulously designed ritual. No need to find the facts of this particular incident. They don’t seriously expect us to believe that the systematic killing by drowning of 25,000 civilians, not in the course of war or armed conflict...

...but in the peaceful international waters of the Mediterranean, is a 25,000 unfortunate accidents. They don't seriously expect us to believe that the fact that ALL the +25,000 victims belong to a specific group is coincidence.

They don't expect us to believe that a cruise ship with hundreds of white rich tourists in distress would have been escorted by multiple European flag vessels and aircrafts, for many hours, only to necrographically watch them drown.

So why do we still refuse to believe the unbelievable, to acknowledge the inconceivable? Why do we keep naming these maritime ordeals a 'failure', or 'omission' in lieu of 'success' and 'commission'?

Why instead of accepting that this is the norm of our politicians and bureaucrats, we still react as if we are dealing with 25,000 exceptions? Why not calling what we experience for what it is: a policy of mass murder of a singled out population ('migrants')...

... which was invented for the sole purpose of its targeting. Starvation is an international crime. How refusal to render assistance to a drowning person is any different than refusal to feed a starving person?

The story is not about revealing the facts. It is about enforcing the law. Exposing their lies is embarrassingly easy. Take the towing, for example. A common practice of the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCJ) which intensified since March 2020...

But it had lethal consequences already a decade earlier. In 2014 a refugees boat was in distress in Greek waters, close to the coast. The HCG, operating under the aegis of #FRONTEX Operation Poseidon, made TWO FAILED ATTEMPTS TO TOW THE BOAT to Turkey and the boat shipwrecked.

One of the victims survived while watching his wife and four children drowning to death. Another victim survived while witnessing his wife and three children dying before his eyes. A third survived but his wife and child did not.

The survivors testified that at first the HCJ fired in the air and ordered them to sail back to Turkey; that once the boat shipwrecked, they did not throw vests or other means of rescue and took no action to save the passengers of the fishing vessel...

on the contrary, in some cases, it prevented people who had fallen overboard from climbing aboard; that the HCJ did not inform the Greek MRCC until after the sinking;

that on shore, shocked by the loss of their loved ones, the survivors were subjected to a strip search in front of the others survivors and a group of soldiers; yes, they were asked to lean forward and turn around while they would still have been naked.

The survivors were then detained and an expulsion ordered was issued against them. The remains of bodies of their relatives continued to be found at sea as late as two weeks after the shipwreck.

The case against the coast guards who were was dismissed. The Greek Prosecutor argued, inter alia, that dangerously towing boats to turkey “at the absolute discretion” of the coastguard.

Instead, scapegoating. One of the survivors, a minor, was arrested, indicted and convicted of “illegal trafficking...resulting in death and for illegal entry into Greek territory” and was initially sentenced to 145 years in prison and half million euros fine (reduced on appeal)

Greece told the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) that the person guilty of the deaths was already convicted. But the ECtHR thought otherwise. The Court condemned Greece for violating its obligation to take measures aimed at the protection of the lives of the victims.

Though Greece “knew or ought to have known... that a particular individual was under real and immediate threat”, they have not taken, within the framework of their powers, the measures which, from a point of view reasonable, could be considered suitable for mitigating this risk”.

The Court found the Greek agents were aware of “the fact that on this boat were women and children”, “the condition of the fishing vessel, which was poorly maintained and not seaworthy, as well as the number of passengers, which exceeded the maximum authorized limit...”.

The Court found that “after their arrival on the scene, the coast guards had at their disposal a range of options as to the actions to be taken”.

Greece argued its authorities ordered its border guards to rescue the vessel and bring its passengers ashore. The Court observed that “there is no explanation of how they planned to bring the persons... to safety with a boat… which did not have the necessary equipment for rescue

The Court observed that the coastguards never considered the possibility of requesting additional assistance and that "... life jackets were not distributed… because there were none…”.

The Court noted that even if the capsizing of the boat took place because of the panic of its passengers as Greece argued, this panic was PROVOKED BY THE FAILED TOWING ATTEMPT.

The Court found that Greece has “not provided any explanation as to the concrete omissions and delays”, that “serious questions arise as to the manner in which the operation was conducted”, and that Greece, well, violated the right to life of the victims.

Took the @ECHR_CEDH no less than 7 YEARS to render its judgement against Greece in the Safi case.

In the meantime, this exceptional failure has become the official policy of #Frontex and Greece, a policy to which tens of thousands of civilians are subjected on a daily basis:

Whether by passively refraining from launching rescue, or by actively towing or forcibly transferring asylees to 'death rafts', the result is the same: abandonment in distress at sea.

If the #ECHR is ineffective in regulating the conduct of EU STATES, perhaps the @EUCourtPress, which has competence over the conduct of EU AGENCIES such as #Frontex, will be doing a better job in reinstating the Rule of Law at EU's external borders?

Frontex is operating since 2004, but for 17 years no one took the agency to Court. In 2021, @front_LEX filed the 1st human rights case against the agency over its policy in Greece. And another case. And another.. countless reports were annexed to these cases...

One of these reports was producd by the EU's own law enforcement agency @EUAntiFraud. The EU Border Agency refused to disclose this EU report to the EU Court, and we had to rely on our sources in order to provide the Court access to it.

The @EUAntiFraud report corroborates all our arguments in the @EUCourtPress pending cases. Its finding are so criminal that Frontex's Director preferred to resign and not face the consequences. But to no avail. Also this Court takes its time. New crimes. New victims. No one cares

They too know that the @ECHR_CEDH and @EUCourtPress are failing to enforce the Law on EU Stats and Agencies. That the judiciaries grant them carte blanch to do whatever whilst enjoying full impunity. And they behave accordingly.

Our politicians and bureaucrats are perpetrating the worst crimes mankind invented and sanctioned, time and again, against the most vulnerable population, and the legal order the international community established in Nuremberg remains silent.