Riding my bike on the way back home from my weekend job in a bar in Milan, I found myself thinking about some news I had read during the day. Away from all the noise, the booze, and the music, at three in the morning even Milan can find a bit of tranquillity for itself.
Drops falling from the sky, I began to feel tormented by an array of different events of which I have seen pictures or about which I have read words. And these words, these stories are often left in the corner of the mediatic showcase, whereas they should gain more relevance; if only this torment of mine and of others could turn into collective action, maybe things would start to change.
I recall the story about local Italian police officers being investigated for torture, with the accusation of having brought two men into the police station – arrested on suspicion of having stolen some products from a supermarket –, humiliating and injuring them. The victims were two young men, boyfriends, who invoked the help of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), claiming they had suffered physical and psychological violence, humiliation, and racial and sexual profiling by police officers. The case was dismissed by local prosecutors, who recognized police ‘unbecoming behaviour’ [https://www.gazzettadimodena.it/modena/cronaca/2024/02/28/news/sassuolo-due-giovani-denunciano-alla-corte-ue-colpiti-e-umiliati-dai-poliziotti-1.100480773].
Turning my mind away from this episode, I can’t avoid being led towards the instance of violence against young protesters at pro-Palestinian demonstration in Pisa. Italians have expressed their utter indignation, as have some foreign media outlets, with President Sergio Mattarella asserting that “the authority of law enforcement is not measured by truncheons but by its ability to ensure security while protecting, at the same time, the freedom to publicly express opinion. With kids, truncheons express failure.” [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pisa-ap-sergio-mattarella-milan-italian-b2504791.html]
But this is just the latest news. Recounts about police having allegedly hit a man who was in a hospital – torture -, as well as having falsified a report following the fact are not undetected. Behaviours have been described in detail by the medical staff, police officers suspended, and the man invoking a blackout [https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2024/02/15/sassuolo-quattro-agenti-della-polizia-locale-a-processo-per-tortura-aggredito-e-percosso-un-uomo-in-ospedale/7447798/].
All this sounds so familiar to those Italians who do not turn their backs on reality, and Stefano Cucchi’s story has not put an end to all these inhumane and brutish treatments. Indeed, in this very instance, due to sadly-well-known Italian justice’s lengthy processes, the accusations of forgery directed to two police officers were statute barred.
I can take this thread of violence back to the year in which I was born: Genoa’s G8, where ‘serious police violence against protesters’ is being described as ‘torture and inhuman and degrading treatment’[https://www.echrcaselaw.com/en/echr-decisions/serious-police-violence-against-protesters-at-the-g8-summit-is-torture-and-inhuman-and-degrading-treatment/], triggering ECHR’s investigation under Article 3, which states that ‘No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ [https://fra.europa.eu/it/law-reference/european-convention-human-rights-article-3-0].
Light rain still pattering on my face, I then started wondering about how often we end up choosing lost causes. I am not necessarily referring to causes that we know for a fact to have very low chances of winning; more so, I am addressing causes that should be left alone because they do not really improve the conditions of those who tend to be worse-off. A bit of a Rawlsian perspective, I might agree; nonetheless, I believe there must be true purpose behind battles to be fought, and mediatic buzzing is not a good-enough reason. I hope the stories I recounted you today will lead you towards making the right choices, and choosing the right causes, often driving away from all the background noise.
Just an average guy that read “On the road” a bit too soon and was led to tending to fall in love too much with too many things. Still in Bocconi, still trying to study Management of Government and International Organisations. I don’t know if I can say that I am a global citizen, I am more of a citizen that likes the globe.
