A former director of a migrant detention center in Turin, Italy, has been sentenced to one year in prison following the 2021 suicide of a Guinean migrant, Moussa Balde. The ruling, delivered recently, also absolved the facility’s health manager, but has ignited renewed scrutiny of conditions within Italy’s network of detention centers for irregular migrants.
Annalisa Spataro, who was director of the Centro di Permanenza per i Rimpatri (CPR) in Turin at the time of Balde’s death, was found guilty of failing to adequately assess the young man’s psychological vulnerability. The court ordered Spataro and Gepsa, the company managing the CPR, to jointly pay over €350,000 in provisional damages to Balde’s family. Fulvio Pitanti, the facility’s health manager, was acquitted.
The case centers on Balde, who took his own life in May 2021 while detained at the Turin CPR. He had been arrested for resisting a public official after seeking help in a tobacco shop while being pursued by another individual. Balde had resided in Italy for 15 years without securing stable residency or citizenship and had a history of drug addiction, having previously served a prison sentence. Critically, he had recently spent approximately a month in a repatriation facility in Albania, part of a migration agreement between Italy and Albania, before being transferred to Turin.
The ruling underscores concerns raised by NGOs and rights groups regarding the treatment of migrants within Italian detention centers. The Association for Legal Studies on Migration (ASGI) described Balde’s death as “yet another tragic suicide” in prison, highlighting inhumane living conditions, a lack of support services, and increased societal stigma as key issues contributing to the crisis. Reports indicate overcrowding, inadequate healthcare, and limited access to legal assistance for detainees.
The incident also brought to light the circumstances surrounding Balde’s initial encounter with authorities. A video surfaced showing Balde being violently assaulted by three Italian men while asking for alms. While those attackers were later convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to two years of suspended imprisonment in January 2023, the initial police response and subsequent detention of Balde have been heavily criticized. Authorities reportedly denied any racial motive in the assault and did not pursue hate crime charges.
The CPR system itself is facing increasing criticism for its ineffectiveness. According to data cited by Diletta Berardinelli, the municipal guarantor for the rights of people deprived of liberty, only 10% of individuals with expulsion orders detained in CPRs were actually repatriated in 2023 – 2,987 out of 28,347 with expulsion orders. This suggests a high cost, both human and financial, for a system that struggles to achieve its stated objective.
Berardinelli characterized the CPRs as structurally flawed, arguing they create dehumanizing living conditions incompatible with a state governed by law. She further stated that the system reproduces a form of institutional violence, where the lives and legal and health treatment of migrants are “banalized.”
The “Ospedaletto” – an isolation area within the Turin CPR – has been a particular focus of concern. A 2016 report by the NGO Medici per i Diritti Umani identified several critical issues within the center, including a lack of cultural and health mediation. Following serious concerns and recommendations from the national guarantor, the “Ospedaletto” was closed, with the closure confirmed between 2021 and 2026.
The case highlights a broader pattern of issues within Italy’s immigration detention system. The limited success rate of repatriations, coupled with reports of poor conditions and a lack of adequate support for vulnerable individuals, raises questions about the efficacy and ethical implications of the current approach to managing migration flows. The legal proceedings and the resulting damages awarded to Balde’s family serve as a stark reminder of the human cost of these policies.
Gianluca Vitale, the lawyer representing Balde’s family, emphasized the importance of recognizing the responsibility of the managing entity, Gepsa, while also lamenting the lack of accountability from the state itself. He expressed hope that the court’s decision would serve as a warning to those managing these centers, but acknowledged that the family’s greatest loss was the life of their son and brother.
