In Italy, the police can detain an undocumented migrant for up to 120 days, regardless of any criminal record. This deprivation of liberty – and of means of communication – is ordered by the Head of Police (Questore), and implemented on the simple validation of an honorary (lay) judge, the Justice of the Peace (Giudice di Pace). The appeal procedure is reserved to the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di cassazione), and takes an average of 12 months.

Detention occurs when an undocumented migrant cannot be immediately returned to their country of origin or provenience. Other measures provided for by the law, such as: the issuance of a passport; the obligation to reside in a previously identified place; and/or to report to the police at fixed days and times, are rarely used.

Italy currently has thirteen detention facilities: nine Pre-Removal Detention Centres (CPR), as well as four Hotspots in the south of the country, located near the Mediterranean. More than 700 people in total can be held in these locations.

The present document describes the living conditions of detainees inside the second largest CPR in Italy, located in Turin. The information were gathered by the Association for Legal Studies on Immigration (ASGI), which provides legal assistance to migrants to ensure that fundamental rights are respected. 

This black book was produced following the suicide of Moussa Balde, a 22-year-old boy who was attacked on 9 May 2021 in the streets of Ventimiglia by three unknown men. After being briefly hospitalized, the young man was taken to the Head of Police of Imperia, which ordered his confinement at the CPR of Turin in order to deport him. At the CPR he was placed in solitary confinement and was found dead on 23 May 2021.

An investigation into these events, the living conditions and medical support in the Turin’s CPR from the Turin’s Prosecutor Office is currently ongoing.