Search 
Go Back to Investigations
Play Video: The Seizure of the Iuventa
Play Video → EN
33:45
Play Video
en

On 2 August 2017, the ship Iuventa was seized by the Italian judiciary. Its operators, members of the German NGO Jugend Rettet (‘Youth Rescue’), were accused of colluding with smugglers and ‘assistance with illegal migration’. The charges related to three different rescue operations: the first on the 10 September 2016, the second and third on 18 June 2017.

The accusations came only days after Jugend Rettet, along with several other rescue NGOs, had refused to sign a ‘code of conduct’ that would have substantially limited their activities.

Forensic Architecture (FA) and Forensic Oceanography (FO) worked together to examine the accounts of those events presented by Italian authorities.

Our analysis suggests that the Iuventa crew did not return empty boats to smugglers, as they were accused of having done. Nor do they appear to communicate with anyone potentially connected with smuggling networks, as the Italian authorities suggested they had.

Motion Tracking – 1 - By tracking the motion of the sky within the frame of the video, our researchers determine the movement of the videographer. (Forensic Architecture)
By tracking the motion of the sky within the frame of the video, our researchers determine the movement of the videographer. (Forensic Architecture)

The seizure of the Iuventa is emblematic of a new attempt by European authorities to stem the flow of migration across the Mediterranean, following the failure of the policies initially deployed in 2011 following the Arab Spring, when the number of attempted crossings from North Africa began to increase substantially.

From 2016, the Italian government, in collaboration with other European governments and EU agencies, has deployed a two-pronged strategy to close off the central Mediterranean. On one hand, authorities attempt to delegitimise and criminalise rescue NGOs, aiming to prevent them from operating in the central Mediterranean. On the other, those authorities provide material, technical and political support to Libya’s coastguard, encouraging and enabling them to more effectively intercept and ‘pull back’ migrants to the Libyan coast.

Motion Tracking – 2 - Forensic Architecture reconstructed a 360º view of the rescue scene in the central Mediterranean by 'motion tracking' the clouds visible in footage of the rescue. (Forensic Architecture)
Forensic Architecture reconstructed a 360º view of the rescue scene in the central Mediterranean by 'motion tracking' the clouds visible in footage of the rescue. (Forensic Architecture)

Team

Forensic Oceanography Team

Forensic Oceanography Team
Principal Investigators

Forensic Architecture Team

Forensic Architecture Team
Project Coordinator
Research
Research Support

Extended Team

Extended Team

Collaborators

Exhibitions

Exhibitions

Events

Events

Press

Press

Investigations

Related Investigations