It began with a question that was as simple as it was devastating: why does no one say my son’s name? In the summer of 1993, following the Capaci bombing in which magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo, and three police officers (Antonio Montinaro, Rocco Dicillo and Vito Schifani) were killed by the Sicilian mafia, Carmela Montinaro approached Don Luigi Ciotti with this plea. Her son Antonio, head of Falcone’s escort, had died alongside them. From that moment of grief and denied recognition emerged what would become the Day of Remembrance and Commitment in Memory of Innocent Victims of Organised Crime.

More than three decades later, that question continues to resonate – not only in Italy, but across Europe and far beyond. On 21 March 2026, the first day of spring, the city of Turin hosted the 31st edition of the initiative promoted by Libera together with a broad network of civil society organisations and local institutions. What began as a national act of remembrance has grown into a transnational space of engagement, drawing together communities, institutions, and activists from across continents.

This year, more than 50,000 people marched through the streets of Turin, culminating in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, where the names of 1,117 innocent victims were read aloud. Among them were 54 international victims, confirming the increasingly global dimension of a phenomenon that transcends national borders. The procession was led by nearly 500 family members of victims, whose presence continues to give moral force and legitimacy to the initiative. The reading of names – slow, deliberate, collective – remains at the heart of the Day: a civil ritual that transforms memory into a public, political act.

The 2026 edition was guided by the slogan “Hunger for Truth and Justice”, a powerful expression of an unresolved reality: approximately 80% of victims’ families still do not know the full truth about what happened to their loved ones. The metaphor of “hunger” reflects both a lack and a demand—an absence of justice and a collective claim for it. The symbol chosen for the campaign, an ant carrying an olive branch, further reinforces this message. The ant, which carries food both for itself and for the colony, represents a vision of society based on redistribution, solidarity, and shared responsibility—values that stand in stark contrast to the inequalities and fractures that organised crime exploits.

Europe at the Crossroads of a Global Challenge

While deeply rooted in the Italian experience, the Day of 21 March increasingly reflects a broader European and international dimension. The presence in Turin of a wide-ranging international delegation made this explicit. Activists, civil society organisations, and family members of victims travelled from countries including France, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Spain, Malta, and Bulgaria, alongside participants from Latin America and Africa. Their presence highlighted a shared awareness: organised crime operates within interconnected systems, and the response must be equally transnational.

The European dimension is not only symbolic. Across the continent, criminal networks—including Italian mafias such as the ’Ndrangheta, Camorra, and Cosa Nostra—have established deep-rooted presences within legal economies. These networks operate in sectors ranging from construction and logistics to hospitality, energy, and finance. As highlighted by Italy’s Direzione Investigativa Antimafia, such infiltration is particularly evident in northern Italy, including the Piedmont region where Turin is located, but it also extends across borders into other European countries, often through complex schemes of money laundering and illicit trade.

Testimonies shared during the Day further illustrated these dynamics. The story of Socayna Zeroual, a 24-year-old law student killed in Marseille by stray gunfire in a drug-related attack, points to the spread of violence linked to organised crime even within European urban contexts. Her sisters and mother travelled to Turin to hear her name read aloud, transforming a local tragedy into a shared European memory.

At the same time, the Day creates connections between European realities and global patterns of violence, corruption, and impunity. From Argentina, Astrid Patiño Carabelli brought the legacy of the desaparecidos of the military dictatorship, while from Mexico, Yolanda Morán Isaís continues her search for her forcibly disappeared son, as part of a wider movement of families resisting silence and invisibility. These experiences underline how different forms of organised crime and state violence intersect at a global level, often linked by shared financial flows and illicit networks.

50,000 People. 1,117 Names

The Libera procession, which brought together over 50,000 people, marched through Turin’s city centre before entering Piazza Vittorio, where the 1,117 names of innocent victims were read out. Almost 500 family members of the victims opened the procession. 16 new names were added to the list this year. Of these, 5 are minors, and 2 are international victims: Massimu Susini and Adnan Siddique. 

Massimu Susini was a Corsican environmentalist and activist based in Cargèse. The village where he lived had experienced an exponential rise in violence, including arson, intimidation and drug trafficking. Susini opposed this downward spiral by dissuading young people from dealing drugs, supporting shopkeepers under threat, and refusing to bow to repeated threats. He was killed in 2019, and six years later, the perpetrators remain unknown. His murder marked a historic turning point for the island, as it sparked the first widespread civil and local mobilisation against the mafia. Two anti-Mafia collectives were formed, one of which is named after him. Susini’s uncle, Jean Toussaint Plasenzotti, travelled to Turin to hear his name read out from the stage for the first time. 

Adnan Siddique was a Pakistani trade unionist who was killed in Italy in 2020. Siddique had been living in Italy for several years and worked as a maintenance worker. He had supported his fellow countrymen in their efforts to expose the exploitation and illegal recruitment they faced as farm labourers. For his actions, Siddique was subjected to a punitive expedition: a group of attackers intercepted him near his home, fatally wounding him with knives and other blunt instruments. Trade unions, four victims of illegal recruitment, and other organisations had joined the proceedings as civil parties in a trial that led to the conviction of 9 people.

From Local Memory to Global Networks

The global reach of organised crime is mirrored by the growing international scope of civil society responses. The Day of 21 March is no longer confined to a single location: it is now marked simultaneously across multiple countries through the networks connected to Libera and partner organisations such as CHANCE, ALAS, and PLACE.

In Europe, initiatives took place in several countries. In Germany, organisations hosted workshops and theatre performances addressing the presence of mafiatype groups and raising awareness among young people. In Romania and Bulgaria, activities focused on education, civic engagement, and the impact of corruption on daily life. In Belgium and Portugal, civil society organisations organised commemorative events and discussions on issues such as disinformation and organised crime.

Beyond Europe, the Day resonated across Latin America, Africa, and beyond. In Colombia, public events brought together victims’ organisations and networks from Argentina and Italy. In Mexico and Peru, initiatives focused on community resilience and the defence of rights. Across Africa—from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Kenya, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire—civil society actors organised activities ranging from community forums to symbolic actions promoting civic responsibility and awareness.

This global mobilisation demonstrates that the “hunger for truth and justice” is not confined to a single territory. Rather, it reflects a common condition shared by communities facing different but interconnected forms of violence and exploitation. The fight against organised crime, corruption, and impunity thus becomes a collective, transcontinental endeavour, anchored in memory but oriented towards action.

Turin: A Symbolic and Strategic Choice

The decision to hold the 2026 edition in Turin was not incidental. The city, like much of northern Italy, has experienced a significant presence of organised crime groups, particularly the ’Ndrangheta. According to recent analyses, these networks have established operations across multiple municipalities and have infiltrated various sectors of the local economy. Choosing Turin therefore meant bringing the Day to a context where the challenges are both real and pressing, reinforcing the link between remembrance and civic responsibility.

At the same time, the return to Turin—twenty years after a previous edition—offered an opportunity to reflect on the evolution of both organised crime and the responses to it. As Don Luigi Ciotti reminded participants, criminal organisations continue to adapt, expanding their reach and exploiting new vulnerabilities within democratic systems. In this sense, the Day is not only about remembering the past, but about recognising the urgency of present challenges.

Memory as a Form of Action

The reading of 1,117 names is not a symbolic gesture, but a deliberate political act. Each name represents a life interrupted, a story cut short, and a failure of protection and justice. At the same time, each name is also a commitment—a refusal to forget and a call to act.

In a context where democratic institutions are often under pressure, and where new forms of inequality and marginalisation create fertile ground for criminal exploitation, the Day of 21 March serves as a reminder that memory is a form of resistance. To remember is to reclaim dignity, to demand accountability, and to build connections across communities and borders.

The participation of international delegations, the simultaneous initiatives across continents, and the engagement of diverse actors—from civil society to institutions—demonstrate that this commitment is increasingly shared. The challenge now is to translate this shared memory into coordinated action, particularly at the European level, where policies, cooperation mechanisms, and civic engagement can play a decisive role in countering organised crime.

A Growing List, A Shared Responsibility

Thirty-one years after the first reading in Rome, the list of names continues to grow. This growth reflects both the persistence of violence and the expanding recognition of its victims. It also underscores the necessity of a collective response that goes beyond national frameworks.

From Turin to Marseille, from Bogotá to Kinshasa, from Rome to Bucharest, the voices that came together on 21 March 2026 spoke a common language: one of remembrance, justice, and collective responsibility. What started as a mother’s question has become a global demand—one that challenges societies, institutions, and communities alike.

Because every name carries a story. And every story calls not only to be remembered, but to be answered.