Moussa Balde committed suicide in the Cpr in Turin, he underwent an 'animalisation process'

She tolerated her life in the Cpr of Turin after having undergone a"process of animalisation" and "dehumanisation". With these motivations, the Tribunal of Turin sentenced toone year in prison the former director of the centre in which Moussa Balde, the young man originally from Guinea, committed suicide on 23 May 2021. For the judges, the then director was'grossly negligent'in assessing the psychological condition of the detainee. A chapter of the judgement is dedicated to the 'human story' of Moussa, who was brought to the CPR - after having suffered aracially motivated assault in Ventimiglia - because he did not have his papers in order.

The magistrates, in order to 'understand the reasons for the suicide', recalled long passages from the reports of the plaintiff's consultants. Once in the centre, 'Balde,' it is written, 'began to lose the references of his own socio-cultural identity: documents showed that he came from Guinea, a fact that was not considered relevant; only the fact that his parents were alive was recorded, without him being asked any further questions about his family. No doctor, psychologist or legal worker asked him who was waiting for him in Italia or in other countries, nor whether he wished to contact anyone. He was gradually entering a process of de-parentalisation and de-culturisation, resulting in a loss of identity references and a form of dehumanisation of the person'.

Moussa had been taken to the hospital because other migrants in the CPR feared for their health, mistaking a simple psoriasis for scabies. 'He did not understand the reasons for detention,' the sentence goes on, 'and perceived the isolation as a cage. He was transferred from room 11 to room 9 because of the presence of pigeon droppings. The consultant likened this condition to a process of animalisation, recalling dynamics typical of colonialism'. The court also noted that 'obviously' it was not allowed to 'assess any possible political faults or those of other parties in relation to the context in which the event took place, faults that - in the context of a wider debate on a subject of great general interest - have been repeatedly mentioned'.

According to the judges, Balde's death occurred due to the negligent conduct of the defendant, who held aguarantee role and was the coordinator of the services offered in the Cpr. There were two signs of the boy's great vulnerability that would have required psychological and medical support: having suffered an assault, carried out by three Italians, and having been placed in solitary confinement: a condition that constitutes a high risk factor.

The Court also gives an account of an exchange of messages between the Guarantor of Prisoners and the former director, where the former informed the head of the centre of the beating of Balde: "They tell me that the boy arrived from Ventimiglia, originally from Guinea, is in the CPR and has mental disorders"; "he was severely beaten by three Italian imbeciles".