The 25-year old captain of the rescue ship Iuventa of Jugend Rettet said that a Libyan speed boat "fired towards several overcrowded boats with refugees and hit them" during a rescue operation. "We are speechless against this crude violence", Jonas said in a post on May 23. The non-profit organization also posted a photo with a caption "an armed man can be seen". "A Libyan speedboat fired a variety of shots during one of our rescues," the post said.

"The situation was under control until the first shots were fired and refugees were beaten. About 100 people panicked and jumped from the boats to reach the Aquarius and us. Two of the refugee boats were towed back to Libya by the crew of the speedboat. We cannot say whether and how many dead there were in the shooting. We had to be careful not to get a bullet ourselves. We are speechless against this crude violence," he said.

Shots fired, witnesses say

 A previous post on the Facebook page of Jugend Rettet said rescue crews from the Iuventa, together with the ships Vos Hestia of Save the Children and Aquarius of SOS Mediterranée, "witnessed multiple (gun)shots" in the course of eight separate rescues coordinated by the Italian Coast Guard's Central Operations Center in Rome on May 23.

The organizations rescued about 1,000 migrants from six rubber boats and two small boats in the central Mediterranean headed for Italy. "These [the shots] were fired from a ship with the label of the Libyan Coastguards and were seemingly aimed at the people on the boats," the post said.

“Furthermore, several boats were pushed back into Libyan waters by Libyan Coastguards. This is a violation of the non-refoulement principle - thereby of human rights".

''Prove accusations', Libyan Coast Guard rails against NGO

The spokesman of the Libyan Navy, Admiral Ayob Amr Ghasem, has challenged the German NGO Jugend Rettet to produce ''incontrovertible'' evidence. He called the accusations ''illogical''. In statements to ANSA, the spokesman said that if the NGO really wanted to advance ''the interest of migrants'', they should ''cooperate with us'' and not ''wage war'' on the Libyan Coast Guard. ''Why would we have shot at boats if we are the ones that always save them?'' the admiral asked, saying that a rescue had been carried out on Tuesday. ''Why do they declare war on us?'', Ghasem asked, adding that ''they should instead cooperate with us if they actually want to work in the interest of the migrants.''

Some ''biased organizations'', the spokesman claimed without giving names, instead help human traffickers to advance a ''dream of emigrating'' to Europe to profit from it.

The EU calls for respect of human rights

Foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Wednesday that the EU had no direct information on reports that the Libyan Coast Guard had shot at boats carrying migrants earlier in the day. However, Mogherini said, the EU continues to call upon the Libyan Coast Guard to respect human rights.

The work that the EU is involved in alongside the Libyan Coast Guard through the EU Naval Force Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR Med), also known as Operation Sophia in collaboration with the UN and NGOs, ''includes a strong human rights component,” Mogherini said.  Special care and respect for women, she added, was especially important not only at sea but also on the ground during the long journeys they travel to get to the Libyan coast.

Infomigrants with ANSA