He Juana Rivas’ youngest son will have to testify this Friday before the Civil Court of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy). He will likely arrive accompanied by his father, Francesco Arcuri, formally charged by the Prosecutor’s Office for physical and psychological abuse of him and his older brother. Arcuri, however, continues to deny not only the accusations, but even having been notified of the process. two days ago, lied to the media by stating that he knew “absolutely nothing” about a change in the course of the case, despite the fact that there is at least one judicial record to which he has had access Public which confirms that was informed through his lawyer at the hearing on November 15 and at your home the same day. But the ordeal that Rivas and her children have been suffering for almost a decade is not limited to their manipulations, we must add the inaction of a judicial system that continues to allow the ten-year-old minor lives with his alleged attackerignoring both international regulations and the suffering of the boy, who this summer begged his mother and brother for help.
“It is as if an abused woman was told that until the day of judgment she has to continue living with the person who abuses her,” she points out firmly. Paqui Granadosdirector and legal advisor of the Maracena Municipal Women’s Center (Granada), the center from which attention, advice and support has been provided to Juana Rivas since June 2016. “That child is under constant duress and threatas confirmed by the Cagliari Prosecutor’s Office,” adds Granados in a conversation with Public. The problem, at this point, transcends the silence and institutional violence that Rivas has suffered: the issue is in the “lack of diligence” to ensure the safety of a minor whose voice continues to be “ignored.”
From minute one, Rivas’s entourage has experienced the procedure as a “monstrosity”. Italy has “continually” ignored the international regulations that are binding on them and the Istanbul convention, which since 2014 requires the protection of victims of gender violence (mothers and their daughters and sons), seems a dead letter in this case. As argued the journalist Marisa Kohan, specialist in Equality and children’s rights.: “The Rivas case You cannot look only at the sentence of a sexist and misogynist judgebut because of the egregious failures of a Justice system that questions mothers and unprotects their sons and daughters when they denounce gender violence suffered by them and their children.
Over the years, The Italian Justice has discredited the testimonies of Gabriel, the eldest sonwho recounted different episodes of abuse, describing them as manipulated by their mother (again, the false SAP) and have ignored multiple medical reports. “There is compelling evidence: hospital admissions for bruises, documented suspicions of abuse and up to three reports from the Andalusian Health Service. What more is needed to act?” Granados asks. This Wednesday, Gabriel himself, who is now 18 years old, expressed his concern about the his father’s inability to “control his impulsiveness and anger” and stressed that He saw his brother “in great danger.”
The custody of the minor depends on a Commercial Court
The Italian Civil Court, where the youngest of the brothers will have to testify, can be compared in general functions to the Provincial Courts in Spainalthough with some differences. The Provincial Courts are in charge of resolving appeals against the decisions of the first instance courts, including those related to civil and family law, with a key detail: cases of gender violence, including those affecting minors, are concentrated in courts. specialized in violence against women. These bodies unify criminal and civil issues related to the protection of victims, guaranteeing greater coherence and sensitivity in treatment.
By contrast, in Italy, this unification does not exist, which has led to the criminal issues of Juana Rivas’s case and the custody of her children being handled by different judicial bodies. With the aggravating factor, furthermore, that despite there already being Italian internal rules that (“expressly”) require that Civil Justice cannot ignore criminal proceedings on gender or domestic violence, both the Family Court and the Court of Cagliari Civil Appeal, They have neglected the criminal cases opened against Arcuri for mistreatment“recalls Granados. This even once he was formally charged with habitual physical and psychological violence against his children.
Inattention that reaches its maximum expression when, in these moments, the execution of the ruling of the Supreme Court of Cassation is in the hands of the Commercial Chamber of the Court of Appeal of Cagliariwho does not have any specialization in family law or gender violence.
“How can it be that a child is forced to live with his aggressor and that it is considered that going to testify again with his father is not going to affect him? It is a breach of all logic, of all international regulations committed to the fight against sexist violence, particularly vicarious violence, and the protection of children,” Granados insists. Rivas’s advisor refers to what was reported by the Court of Appeal of Cagliari, which summoned the minor this Friday, December 6 at 11:00 a.m.
In the minutes of the hearing on November 15 in which the aforementioned summons is provided, the president of said Court, after stating that the Prosecutor’s Office has presented a document of accusation against Arcuri for mistreating her children, refers to the fact that “There are no elements that allow us to believe that the hearing of the minor could disturb his serenity”. “How can you talk about the serenity of a child who lives under the same roof as someone whom the Prosecutor’s Office formally accuses of physically and psychologically attacking him?” Granados replies; “It is an insult to that child and his most basic rights.”
The advisor remembers that “the boy has been living for years under the constant threat of his father. When he was in Spain this summer, he asked his mother and brother: Please help me. I can’t tell the truth while I’m with my father“. And he emphasizes that the Italian system has ignored even forensic evidence that reflects the coercion to which it is subjected. “In 2022, when it was heard for the first time, a report determined that the boy was lying. He said his father was good, but the prosecutor and the coroner concluded that I did it under pressure“he explains.
They ask for the action of Justice, Equality and Foreign Affairs
While Gabriel has lived in Spain with his mother since he was 16, his brother has remained in Italy with his father because that is what Justice decided. Recently, there was a cassation ruling that decided that the brothers could not live apart, But even so, the Italian Justice has delayed the process, starting a new trial instead of executing what its Supreme Court already dictated. “The solution is clear: the brothers must be reunited in Spain with their mother. But until this is carried out, the minor should be separated from their father immediately,” argues Granados.
What else can be done to protect the child? Granados is forceful: “This is not a problem of interpretation of the facts, it is a breach of the law.” She herself, as director of the Maracena Municipal Women’s Center, has sent a series of reports to the Ministries of Justice, Equality and Foreign Affairs asking them to act within their powers: “No institution that has something to say can look the other way. That child needs help. Not tomorrow, not in a month. Today,” concludes the advisor.
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