Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/433160
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2014 3 News MATTHEW VELLA A chorus of support is building up for the release of crucial informa- tion that can shed light on how a three-hour delay on 11 October, 2013 could have contributed to the death of some 400 refugees and asy- lum seekers in the tragic Lampedusa shipwreck. Earlier this week, the Armed Forces of Malta's rejection of MaltaToday's freedom of information request for release of information on the rescue operation, was upheld by the Infor- mation and Data Protection Com- missioner. The IDPC cited the national in- terest of both the country and the armed forces in preventing any re- lease on the details surrounding the operations that led to the rescue. But even the Nationalist Party deputy leader for party affairs, Beppe Fenech Adami, and Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Arnold Cassola, are now calling on the gov- ernment to release the information on the rescue. Yesterday, Nationalist MEP Rob- erta Metsola called on the Maltese authorities to release all the infor- mation relating to the rescue of mi- grants off Lampedusa on the day in question. "It is unacceptable that more than a year after all those deaths in the Mediterranean we still do not know exactly what happened on that fateful day and our questions have not yet been fully answered. The lack of will- ingness to make information public has raised eyebrows among NGOs, the media and the public who have questioned how the exact sequence of events unfolded," said Metsola, the European People's Party vice- coordinator on the civil liberties, jus- tice and home affairs committee that deals with migration issues. "We are talking about the deaths of more than 200 people. Not giving all the information is simply not good enough. We deserve to know the whole truth as to exactly what hap- pened. Our questions will not simply go away." Alternattiva Demokratika chair- person Arnold Cassola yesterday also called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to release the information on the Armed Forces of Malta's behav- iour, speaking at his party's annual general conference; while Fenech Adami made his appeal on Friday's edition of Xarabank. FOI request The IDPC has upheld the refusal by the Armed Forces of Malta to re- lease a detailed chronology of events relating to the rescue of over 200 migrants at sea on 11 October, 2013 – in which some 400 asylum seek- ers and refugees lost their life in the tragic Lampedusa sinking. The AFM refused the request on 30 December, 2013, and again on 13 January, 2014. Prima facie evidence exists of some form of delay between the rescue call made at 12:39pm on 11 October, and the eventual safety mission launched at 3pm. In his decision, Data Protection Commissioner Saviour Cachia said that the information requested in- volved documents which, if dis- closed could "to a great extent, affect Malta's national security and de- fence and its international relations, particularly Italy." The IDPC said that such informa- tion could undermine "the AFM's raison d'être which is ultimately that of defending the nation" and con- cluded that the documents request- ed were exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. The IDPC also said that the release of the information could "prejudice the conduct of an investigation of a possible breach of law" and that should proceedings be instituted, it is in the interest of both the AFM and Malta's standing that the infor- mation is classified. "The interest of public safety… overrides the interest for a request for information," the IDPC said, add- ing that the information requested "could run counter to public interest" and that the public was deemed to be better served by non-disclosure. Some 200 migrants presumed to have died in the Lampedusa ship- wreck in 2013 could have been saved if Italian and Maltese authorities had not dithered over rescue operations, Amnesty International has claimed in a report. Malta rescued 147 people, Italy picked up another 39, while the oth- er passengers were never found. "It is reasonable to question whether Italy and Malta acted promptly and with all available resources to save the refugees and migrants and whether a delay in going to their rescue con- tributed to the shipwreck," Amnesty International said. The AFM was also duty-bound to explain what could have possibly led to a two to three-hour delay on 11 October, which explanation may give insight into why the Italian coastguard did not carry out a faster and timelier rescue mission when it was first alerted to a boat in distress, leading to the death of 268 persons. Since evidence exists from Ital- ian naval officers of some form of delay between the rescue call made at 12:39pm, and the eventual safety mission launched at 3pm, an expla- nation on this matter alone was a matter of public interest. A chronology of the events of the day as relayed by Admiral Felicio An- grisano to Italian weekly L'Espresso, revealed that the Italians offloaded the responsibility for the search- and-rescue mission to Malta, when an Italian naval asset – the ITS Libra – was closer to the boat in distress. AFM submissions The Armed Forces said that it was not in the army's or national interest to "directly or indirectly be construed to be shifting blame on another EU member state with whom Malta col- laborates on a number of fronts." It said that the exposure of its modus operandi could be utilised by third parties with illicit intentions, and that revealing the rescue request from Italy would reveal standard op- erating procedures. The AFM also said that since judi- cial proceedings against Malta can- not be excluded "and the possibility of the same is a reasonable concern", the army did not want to reveal more than was strictly necessary. "The information requested is of a highly sensitive nature… and its divulgence would undoubtedly be cause of a serious prejudice to na- tional and public interest." MEP says Malta must release Lampedusa rescue timeline 'We are talking about the deaths of more than 200 people – Our questions will not simply go away' – Roberta Metsola Roberta Metsola: "It is unacceptable that we know nothing about those deaths a whole year later" Survivors of the Lampedusa tragedy brought ashore, weeping for the loss of their loved ones