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The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal is calling on the European Union to suspend its “cooperation agreements” with the Maghreb States, as these agreements, with the EU’s support and complicity, violate the rights of migrants.
The EU’s policies and those of its member States regarding external border control and the criminalisation of migration are part of a broader trend of human rights rollbacks. The criminalisation of activists and organisations that save lives in the Mediterranean, as denounced by the PPT, is increasing the number of deaths.
The Brussels event, which is dedicated to presenting the Judgement issued by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) at the conclusion of its 56th session, was organised following the first presentation held in Rabat on 31 March (watch the video of the event). The session focused on human rights violations against migrants committed by Maghreb States, the European Union, and some of its member States (Palermo, Sabir Festival, 23–25 October 2025). While the Rabat event focused on providing an in-depth public analysis of the situation in the Maghreb, the Brussels meeting emphasised the role and responsibilities of the European Union. The event will be held at the Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Bruxelles.
Gianni Tognoni, Secretary General of the PPT, emphasised the significance of the Palermo session, stating: “The Indictment filed by numerous organisations, which led to this Judgement, must be viewed as the first step and a tool to encourage public engagement on the issue of migration. This will help to break down the barriers of silence, hatred and marginalisation surrounding migration, and contribute to closing legal loopholes and reducing hostility towards migrants.”
The Judges outlined the main issues addressed in the Judgement, confirming “the existence of a continuum of violence perpetrated against migrants in Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and the Mediterranean Sea”. This violence is exacerbated by the criminalisation enacted by several European Union member States against individuals and organisations providing aid to migrants, described as the systematic criminalisation of solidarity.
The Tribunal also stated that “a phenomenon similar to that in Europe exists in the Maghreb, where widespread rejection of immigration — rooted in a racist historical context and dominant identity-based rhetoric — coexists with an economic need for immigrants”
Judge of the PPT Amzat Boukari Yabara, who holds a doctorate in African History and Civilisation, emphasised that the Tribunal found violations of migrants’ rights to be ideologically underpinned by systemic racism permeating all North African societies and statements by authorities such as Tunisian President Kais Saied, who in 2023 expressed fear that his country would lose its identity in the face of an influx of migrants.
Chadia Arab, member of the Tribunal’s panel, geographer, research director at the CNRS, as well as expert on international migration, emphasised that acts committed against migrants, such as arbitrary detention, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, constitute a clear violation of the Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as other international provisions.
Luca Masera, member of the Panel of Judges and professor of criminal law at the University of Brescia highlighted the systemic nature of these violations. He stated that they “do not stem from sporadic actions by individuals, but from a view of migration that regards violence and repression against migrants as central elements of public policy”.
After reviewing the various legal provisions that protect the inalienable rights of migrants, Wahid Ferchichi, a panel member and dean of the Faculty of Legal, Political, and Social Sciences in Tunis, clarified that the Judgement classifies violations committed against Black migrants from sub-Saharan African countries – such as the denial of assistance, intentional shipwrecks, arbitrary detention, racial discrimination, torture, the externalization of borders, and violations of the rights of migrant children – as “serious violations of the peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens)”.
The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal ruled that the European Union and many of its member States are complicit in ongoing violations of migrants’ rights. This Judgement is also linked to the first session dedicated to violations of the rights of migrants and refugees, which was held from 2017 to 20204. During this session, evidence emerged against the European Union and its member States for human rights violations and for failing to provide rescue operations in the central and eastern Mediterranean, causing hundreds of deaths at sea.
The Panel of Judges also expressed deep concern over provisions adopted by the European Parliament at the end of March last year, which allow for the establishment of migrant detention centres in third countries. “It is important to remember that the EU’s and its member States’ policies regarding external border control and the criminalisation of migration are part of a broader context marked by a general erosion of human rights, the development of surveillance and control mechanisms for populations, security-oriented and/or bellicose rhetoric, a loss of state legitimacy and a deeply concerning rise in xenophobic and far-right movements across Europe,” stated Braulio Moro, PPT judge, journalist and doctor of economics. He highlighted the EU’s role in creating what is referred to as ‘Fortress Europe’, and noted that the European Pact on Migration and Asylum will come into full force in June.
Based on the testimony heard during the hearings, the documentation provided and expert testimony, the PPT’s Judgement concludes that “the facts adjudicated by the Tribunal constitute serious violations by the States of the peremptory norms of international law and a crime against humanity within the meaning of the Statute of the International Criminal Court”.
Regarding the European Union, whose involvement in crimes against migrants has been proven, the Tribunal calls for the suspension of the “cooperation agreements” with countries in the Maghreb region. These agreements irreparably violate the fundamental rights of migrants and constitute the crimes established by the Judgment, as well as the suspension of the “Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic and Global Partnership between the European Union and Tunisia,” signed in 2023 by Ursula von der Leyen and Kais Saied, with Giorgia Meloni acting as mediator, as it irreparably violates the fundamental rights of migrants.
The Tribunal also urges the European Union to comply with international law and bring national legislation into line with it. Furthermore, it calls on the European Union to take firm action to end the impunity of individuals, groups and states involved in the illicit trafficking of migrants, which leads to slavery and other violations of their rights.
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Maxence Salendre
msalendre@asf.be
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