Unwarranted arrest, ill-treatment and gendered abuse of human rights defenders by Italian police in Brescia

On 13 January 2025, 22 climate activists and human rights defenders from the Italian branches of Extinction Rebellion, Last Generation (Ultima Generazione) and Palestina Libera were arrested and held by police for around seven hours following a non-violent direct action to protest against Italy’s supply of arms to Israel, contributing to the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. While in custody, seven women human rights defenders, including Elisa Francescatti, Gaia Battistoni, Beatrice Ravarotto, Laura Lofaro, Arianna Carpinella, and Val (last name withheld), were forced by police officers to undress and squat.

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Elisa Francescatti, Gaia Battistoni, Marta Maroglio, Laura Lofaro, Beatrice Ravarotto, Arianna Carpinella, Francesco Baccinetti, Matteo Galliano, Michele Ghidini, Gregorio Savio, Lorenzo Barili, Massimiliano Croce, Riccardo Rocchi, Davide Giorgio Scianca, Samuele Righetto,Yuri Pietro Tacconi, Val, and five other individuals are climate activists and human rights defenders from the Italian branches of Extinction Rebellion, Last Generation (Ultima Generazione) and Palestina Libera. Extinction Rebellion and Last Generation are decentralised, international and politically non-partisan movements that use non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to persuade governments to act justly on the climate and ecological emergency to reverse the course that is leading the planet towards climate and ecological disaster. Palestina Libera is a nonviolent direct action network created to work towards the dismantling of Italian complicity with the occupation of Palestinian Territories by Israel.

At approximately 8.00 a.m. on 13 January 2025, a group of 22 human rights defenders from Extinction Rebellion Italia, Ultima Generazione and Palestina Libera staged a direct action outside the premises of Leonardo S.p.A., a company operating in the aerospace and defence sectors, partially owned by the Italian government, and which is understood to sell arms to the State of Israel. The human rights groups have denounced that the company’s profits have increased since the full scale invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s attack on Gaza and demanded Italian companies and authorities stop selling weapons to Israel, as they claim it supported the killing of Palestinians. During the action, they unfurled banners and locked themselves together to block the entrance of the trucks. Another human rights defender climbed a flagpole to replace the company flag with the Palestinian flag.

Shortly after this began, five police cars and a fire brigade truck arrived at the factory to halt the protest. The police took protestors to the Brescia police station after having requested and verified the ID documents of all of the group. The organisations claim the arrest was done in apparent violation of Article 349 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedures which states that, in the event of an identity check, the criminal police shall only escort a suspect or other persons to their offices if they refuse to be identified or provide personal data or identification documents for which there are sufficient reasons to believe they are false. The police justified this action in their report by claiming that the human rights defenders had committed offences during this exchange, such as resisting a public officer, insulting a public officer and refusing to disclose their identity. These claims have been refuted by the human rights defenders.

In addition, the police confiscated the phones and other belongings of all of the human rights defenders. The group members were not allowed to contact their lawyers or families for legal support, again violating the Italian Criminal Procedures Code. They were only allowed to call one individual, who had previously been detained with them and was released from the police headquarters, to request some food.

The seven women human rights defenders reported that they were forced into a room and ordered to undress. The door of the room was left open, exposing them to passers-by as they undressed. They were asked to remove their underwear and to squat down, a practice commonly used in drug-related crimes. In addition, the women defenders were made to keep the bathroom door open while using the toilet, under the supervision of a female police officer. This treatment of the seven women human rights defenders could constitute gender-based abuse, with police officers acting deliberately to intimidate and insult them.

After approximately seven hours, the 22 human rights defenders were released from the Brescia police station, after having all been charged with “seditious assembly” under Article 655 of the Penal Code. In addition, six defenders were charged with “defacing and polluting property” under Article 639, for writing graffiti on the factory’s perimeter walls with washable paint. Two of the defenders were charged with using dangerous ignitions or explosives under Article 703 of the Code, for activating smoke bombs. One individual was charged with violating article 18 of the Public Safety Law for failing to notify the authorities of the demonstration.

In addition to these charges, the police have issued varying degrees of expulsion orders (fogli di via) to the 17 of them who are not residents of Brescia, banning six of them from entering Brescia for six months, five for 12 months and six for 18 months. These bans are based on a 2011 law, widely known as the ‘Anti-Mafia Code’.

Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the ill-treatment of the 22 human rights defenders, apparently in retaliation for their legitimate work as human rights defenders protesting and supporting the rights of the Palestinian people through non-violent direct action. This concern is heightened by the reported sexual abuse of the seven women human rights defenders while in detention.

The organisation also expresses its concern with legislation being considered in the Italian Parliament which risks exacerbating the threats and hostile environment that human rights defenders face in their work: the Draft Law 1236 (ex 1660) on public security, protection of staff in service and victims of usury and the penitentiary system, which was passed by the Chamber of Deputies in September 2024 and is currently before the Senate, will, if passed, further allow the government to criminalise climate activists and human rights defenders. The text is expected to be voted on in the Senate in early 2025.

Front Line Defenders calls on the Italian authorities to:

1. Drop the charges and expulsion orders issued against the human rights defenders who took part in the protests on 13 January 2025, as it is believed that such actions are a direct reprisal for their legitimate and peaceful work as human rights defenders;
2. Immediately launch an independent and thorough investigation into the allegations of ill-treatment and degrading treatment of the detained human rights defenders by the Brescia police, in particular the allegations of forced strip searches of the seven women human rights defenders;
3. Reject the Draft Law 1236 (ex 1660), which imposes heavy restrictions on the right to assembly in Italy, and could enable further criminalisation of human rights defenders;
4. Align all national laws and regulations concerning the right to peaceful assembly under the guidance of UN General Comment no 37, notably under section II which details the scope of the right to peaceful assembly, including collective civic disobedience and direct actions;
5. Ensure that all human rights defenders in Italy are able to carry out their peaceful and legitimate activities without undue restrictions and without fear of harassment, threats or reprisals, including administrative judicial harassment against them.