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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 APRIL 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 APRIL 2022 'Free El Hiblu III': for the sake of our own humanity Editorial THERE was an unmistakable note of irony surround- ing Pope Francis' visit to Malta last week, which was not lost on international news agencies reporting the event. Reuters, for instance, observed that: "Pope Francis visited the grotto in the town of Rabat. According to tradition, St Paul lived there for two months after he was among 75 people shipwrecked on their way to Rome in the year 60 AD. The Bible says they re- ceived unusual kindness. "'No one knew their names, their place of birth or their social status; they knew only one thing: that these were people in need of help,' the pope said in a prayer in the grotto." Reuters further notes: "Pope Francis' last stop was a visit to a centre for migrants, known as the Peace Lab. There, he heard several migrants tell of their at- tempts to reach Europe in un-seaworthy boats, after having been detained in Libya, Tunisia and Malta." Among those who met the Pope were the three young asylum seekers from El Hiblu III: who are on bail while facing charges of hijacking and terrorism. If found guilty, they could face up to life imprison- ment. The three teenagers – Abdalla, Amara and Kader – were part of a group of over 100 men, women and children who were rescued by cargo ship El Hiblu on 26 March 2019. They were aged 15, 16, and 19 at the time. The rescue had been coordinated by an EU naval operation that ordered the ship to take the rescued persons back to Libya. This led migrants to protest; and the ship was eventually allowed to dock in Mal- ta. According to Amnesty International, at no point during the journey did the rescued people engage in any violent action against the captain, the chief officer or any other members of the crew. The on- ly time there was shouting and protesting occurred when people realized they were being returned to Libya. Despite this, the crew communicated to Maltese authorities that rescued people had taken control of the ship and had forced the crew to proceed towards Malta. Upon landing, the three youths - who had acted as translators for the crew - were arrested, and charged with terrorism and hijacking. They were immediate- ly thrown into a high security wing in Malta's prison, and moved to regular facilities for juvenile offenders two weeks later. It was only eight months later that the three young men were finally released on bail. To say that their experience contradicts that of St Paul – who was also, at the time, a perceived 'crim- inal' who was in his way to trial (and execution) in Rome – would be an understatement of the highest order. This was, indeed, explicit not only in the Pope's choice of venues for his three-day visit – first St Paul's Grotto in Rabat, then the Peace Lab in Hal Far – but also in his choice of words. "Already in the Acts of the Apostles, the people of this island were known for saving many lives," he said. "I encourage you to continue to defend life from its beginning to its natural end, but also to pro- tect it at every moment from being cast aside and deprived of care and concern." At this point, the implications become inescapa- ble. Those three El Hiblu 'hijackers' are not the only asylum-seekers who have faced persecution and in- justice in Malta: nor did we even need Pope Francis to remind us that our treatment of people in such plight, is in itself a blot on our historical reputation for 'hospitality' (a word which, to add insult and in- jury, now refers exclusively to the tourism sector). Malta has had a long history of deterrence policies: including mandatory detention, forced repatria- tions, and other practices that are widely regarded as human rights abuses. In 2019 Malta even negoti- ated an agreement with Libya for the two countries to work together to intercept migrants heading to- wards Maltese waters. According to the deal, any intercepted migrants would be returned to Libya – a blatant violation of human rights laws which prohibits the 'refoulement' of people fleeing a nation where they fear they will be persecuted. This was, indeed, the cause of the El Hiblu fiasco: and many other injustices beside. But while the in- justices of the past can no longer be rectified, this is certainly one that Malta still has to power to over- turn. And overturn it we should; not just for the sake of righting a historical wrong… but also for the sake of our own humanity itself, which – as Pope Francis rightly noted – is also at stake. "In these events we see another kind of shipwreck taking place: the shipwreck of civilization, which threatens not only migrants but us all," the Pontiff noted. "How can we save ourselves from this ship- wreck which risks sinking the ship of our civiliza- tion? By conducting ourselves with kindness and humanity. By regarding people not merely as statis- tics." The only way to salvage some of that humanity, at this stage, is to immediately drop all charges against the three El Hiblu youths. Anything less, would be a travesty. 3 April 2012 Majority wants to see all police officers armed with guns MALTATODAY online respondents were unflinching in their opinion that all police officers must carry firearms. MaltaToday.com.mt's online poll on the use of firearms by police officers has revealed an overwhelming support for the forces of law and order to have holstered guns during their everyday business. After an incident in which a man squatting inside Ghar Hasan was shot twice by police officers attempting to remove him, MaltaTo- day online respondents were unflinching in their opinion that all police officers must carry firearms. Of the 1,103 respondents up to Saturday afternoon, 38% (418) said all police officers should carry firearms. Only 138 (13%) were of the opinion that police officers should be trained in non-lethal responses to danger, without using firearms. The rest of the vote was split on alternatives to widespread use of firearms: 303 respond- ents (27%) believe only a specific police unit should be designated with the use of firearms. Another 243 respondents (22%) said Taser guns should be used instead of firearms. All Maltese police officers carry a trun- cheon, but not all police officers carry a pistol. A magisterial inquiry has been launched into the incident involving a Malian national who was shot twice, when police officers fired six shots in his direction as he held a large knife while they approached him. Souleimane Samake, 25, was hit in the thigh and the lower abdomen in the incident outside the caves at Ghar Hasan, in Birzebbugia. During a press conference held at the Flori- ana police headquarters, Police Commissioner John Rizzo did not explain why the incident escalated to a point which required the police mobile squad officers to shoot at Samake. The incident raises questions about the procedures used by the officers to deal with the case. Taser guns were introduced in Malta follow- ing a 2007 incident in Qormi, in which Bastjan Borg was killed in a police shoot-out. ... Quote of the Week "May you always cultivate legality and transparency, which will enable the eradication of corruption and criminality, neither of which acts openly and in broad daylight," Pope Francis in a meeting with Maltese authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps MaltaToday 10 years ago