The Valenzia inquiry into the suspicious death of two migrants had been “gathering dust on a government shelf” for at least two years, a group of eight human rights NGOs lamented yesterday.
In a strongly-worded statement, the group, which includes Aditus, Integra, the Jesuit Refugee Service, KOPIN, the Malta Emigrants’ Commission, the Migrant’s Network for Equality, the Organisation for Friendship and SOS Malta, condemned all those who knew about the report but had done nothing about it.
“We cannot hesitate to express a serious condemnation of every single person who read this report, failed to act and chose to remain silent,” they said.
The report, tabled in Parliament by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Wednesday, was commissioned following the 2012 death of Malian Mamadou Kamara. Mr Kamara had suffered a fatal heart attack when detention officers allegedly kneed him in the groin.
Autopsy reports, included in the inquiry, indicate that the 30-year-old had died in severe agony.
The inquiry had also investigated the unexplained death of Nigerian Ifeanye Nwokoye, who was found dead the previous year. He had attempted to escape from a detention centre only to be found by detention personnel.
The 300-page inquiry, compiled by retired judge Geoffrey Valenzia, points to a number of detention officers who had used excessive force that probably led to the death of Mr Kamara.
It does not reach any conclusions as to who was responsible for Mr Nwokoye’s death but points out officers who had failed to do their duty when the centre’s gates were left open.
In their joint statement, entitled ‘Not event in death is there dignity for detained migrants’, the NGOs described the report as a “scathing commentary on the way Malta has freely decided to treat men, women and children who are running for their lives”.
The inquiry includes a detailed account of the detention service’s shortcomings as described by the man who was responsible for their upkeep at the time.
Former detention head Brian Gatt claims he had been assigned a soldier who had been arraigned for shooting at a yacht, another with a usury habit and one who took a female migrant to his office where a condom was found.
He recounts how he had raised objections with his superiors but his pleas had all fallen on deaf ears.
The NGOs expressed concern at the situation in both of the islands’ detention centres. They said that, despite minimal improvements, “often of a cosmetic nature”, their worries remained as valid and urgent as ever. They called on the government to take them up on their offer to discuss a way forward.
“Mamadou Kamara died a terrible death in detention. His violent death could and should have been avoided. This further shaming of his dignity could and should have also been avoided,” the NGOs said.