The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned Italy for failing to protect residents of the so-called Land of Fires near Naples, where criminal organisations had been dumping and burning toxic waste for decades, according to Euractiv.
Thursday’s ruling found that the government failed to resolve the crisis, despite having been aware of the danger for years. The defendants also violated Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to life.
Lawyer Valentina Centonze brought the case on behalf of 66 citizens and five local organisations who presented scientific evidence showing an increase in cancer rates and groundwater contamination in the Naples and Caserta region. The case was initiated by Alessandro Cannavacciuolo, who filed his case with the ECHR a decade ago during the ongoing emergency.
In a statement on Thursday, he wrote that toxic pollution had devastated his family’s sheep farm and left many family members with cancer. Cannavacciuolo said his uncle died within 30 days as high levels of dioxin were found in his blood.
The Strasbourg court gave Italy two years to implement a comprehensive strategy to combat pollution in the area, establish an independent monitoring mechanism and create a public information platform. Gerolamo Cangiano, vice-president of the Ecomafia Commission for Fratelli d’Italia, also denounced the situation.
It is unacceptable that the people of Campania were left to face a crisis caused by organised crime and the inaction of those who should have intervened earlier.
