African migrant accused of people smuggling by Italy

The 16-year-old from Senegal is relieved to have landed safely in Sicily and lives in what he calls a migrant reception center. It came in 2015 after surviving a perilous boat journey from Libya. But two days after he stayed, he was worried that his bedroom door would be locked.

Musa, whose name was changed to protect his identity, unknowingly ends up in prison in Trapani, a port city on the western part of the Italian island. "No way, I came to Italy and went straight to jail. I'm 16," he thought.

Musa will serve almost two years in adult prison for human trafficking despite being a minor. The case is by no means unique. According to Maria Julia Fava, an assistant attorney who co-authored the report, hundreds of innocent migrants are currently being held in pre-trial detention. He said Italy was using people smuggling laws to criminalize migrants and refugees to blackmail them because of high immigration numbers.

Migrants are charged based on flimsy evidence. He added, court hearings are rarely open, there is insufficient access to justice, evidence may be based on unreliable witnesses, and juveniles may end up in the adult prison system.

Cheikh Sene knows the system well.

He is now an organizer of the Senegalese community in Palermo's Sicilian capital, but spent two years in prison then being found guilty of aiding and abetting human trafficking and says many migrants are being held unfairly at sea on promises of saving lives. He says it happened to him.

In his report, Arci Porco Rosso also said that they had uncovered cases where Italian police officers had offered migrant documents in exchange for testifying against suspected seafarers.

Italy's Ministry of Justice told the news it could not provide information about trials or arrests but provided data on people currently detained on human trafficking charges. As of March 22, there were 952 detainees, 562 of whom had been convicted of human trafficking in Italy.