The sending on the Libyan soil of our country's armed forces seems a utopia, at least for now, given that the Rome government, led by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, has decided that three ways to follow are needed for its implementation, namely to say the necessity of the intervention of the United Nations, thanks to the authorization of the organ that has the responsibility of the maintenance of the peace and the international security, id est the Security Council, (in primis); in secundis, the consent of the intervention in its own territory must start from a government of national unity, given that currently in Libya there are two governments, that of Tripoli and that of Tobruk (the latter supported by the international community); in tertiis, it requires that the two branches of the Parliament, Chamber and Senate, give the green light or theimprimatur to the Italian intervention together with the other states of the coalition. Minister for Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni reiterated this in front of the Senate, exposing the latest events on the situation in Libya, stressing that Italy is working to respond to any requests for security from the Libyan government, nothing more, nothing less, in compliance with the Constitution and only after the green light of the Italian Parliament ".
A few months ago, a decree was issued by the Italian government, then subjected to embargo, composed of 5 articles, preferring, then, to set in motion the system determined by the law n.198 of December 2015, with modifications, of the decree law 30 October 2015, n.174, bearing the extension of the international missions of the armed forces and police, development cooperation initiatives and support for reconstruction processes and participation in the initiatives of international organizations for the consolidation of peace and stabilization processes, which starts the dispatch of personnel of armed troops in support of one intelligence mission.
The document secreted from the Italian government outlines the modus operandi and the chain of command, in which the armed forces belonging to special units will have the functional guarantees intelligence. The decree contains the discipline of the relations of collaboration between theAgency of Information and Security external - which has the task of researching and processing all information useful for defending the independence, integrity and security of the Republic against threats from abroad - and special defense forces, and determines that the chairman of the council, before crisis situations across borders, can authorize, with the support of Department of security information (it is the body used by the government and the delegated Authority for the exercise of their functions and to ensure unity in the planning of information research, in the analysis and in the operational activities of AISE and AISI), the adoption of exceptional and urgent measures.
In a nutshell, it will be directly Palazzo Chigi to take every decision, plan and monitor special forces missions on Libyan soil. In fact, it is stated in the 2 article of the Dpcm of 10 February, that in crisis and emergency situations that require the implementation of exceptional and urgent measures, the President of the Council, after activating any preliminary measure deemed appropriate, may authorize, using the Dis, AISE, to adopt intelligence and law enforcement measures also with the technical operational cooperation provided by the special defense forces with the consequent support structures of the Defense itself.
The mission, which the Renzi government is about to send to Libyan territory, should not be mixed with an intervention in Libya, aimed at bringing the country back to the status quo doors or to its stabilization, in the sense that it does not have the task of replacing the intervention of blue helmets or operations peacekeeping. In fact, in the article 7bis of the law n.198, of the 11 December last year, it is stated that the Prime Minister issues regulations for the adoption of contrast intelligence measures, through the collaboration of special defense forces, in situations of crisis or emergency abroad, which involve aspects of state security or the protection of Italian citizens who they are abroad.
Another interesting aspect that, in my opinion should not be underestimated, consists in the fact that those who are in the official guise of organs of security services, and that, therefore, operate beyond the Italian borders, cannot perform acts of armed force that have how to apply the cd licence to kill. The services staff ofintelligence, while benefiting from the so-called functional guarantees or functional immunities, they will not be able to carry out targeted killings, although these guarantees cannot go as far as having to cover behaviors that constitute crimes aimed at endangering or damaging life, physical integrity, individual personality , personal freedom, moral freedom, health or safety of one or more persons, according to article 17, paragraph 2, of the 124 law of 3 August 2007, in force since 25 August 2012, concerning, precisely, the “Information system for the security of the Republic and a new discipline of secrecy".
Functional immunities or guarantees, when the conditions are met, can also be guaranteed to personnel engaged at the military level, in the sense that the military penal code of peace. Armed forces are allowed to use armed coercive action, provided that this action complies with the rules of engagement, the directives and orders that are lawfully given, according to the Decree-Law of 4 November 2009, n. 152, inherent to the urgent provisions for the extension of development cooperation interventions and to support the peace and stabilization processes, as well as the international missions of the armed forces and police.
When a member of the Armed Forces has been unjustifiable enough to include an international crime, article 7, paragraph 4, of the 198 / 2015 law, states that the paragraph 3 of the present article does not apply in any case to the foreseen crimes by the articles 5 and following of the institutive Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted in Rome the 17 July 1998, ratified according to the law 12 July 1999, n.232. In fact, the Statute determines that the Court's jurisdiction is limited to the most serious crimes, a cause of alarm for the entire international community. The Court has competences, under the present Statute, for the following crimes: crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. It is clear that on this step it is essential to be aware of the fact that indirect control of the two branches of Parliament has been envisaged, in the sense that the rules concerning the measures of intelligence of contrast can be applied only when the chief executive has received the opinion of the Parliamentary Committee for State Security.
In conclusion, the rules set out in the law about international missions is basically its first implementation. One thing is clear, which has already been said initially, and that is to say that the missions of the secret services or in contrast intelligence are not considered equal missions to those of peacekeeping, as well as those of peace enforcement. Moreover, it goes without saying that such intelligence can be used to protect Italian citizens who are abroad, since the same international law allows the release of hostage citizens in foreign territory with the intervention of a military mission and, in this case, does not require the assent of the State of residence or local government.
