A senior government official on Thursday denied allegations of police beatings, abuse and illegal expulsions at migrant identification centres in Italy in a report by Amnesty International.
"It is totally untrue that the police use violence on migrants," said the head of the interior ministry's migration department, Mario Morcone.
"I was disconcerted to read such stupid claims. Amnesty compiles its reports in London, not in Italy."
United Nations staff were based at "hot spots" where migrants who arrive in Italy are identified and fingerprinted, Morcone noted.
Italy's police chief Franco Gabrielli also rejected the allegations of police abuse.
"I categorically deny that violent methods are used against migrants when they are identified or repatriated," Gabrielli said.
European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said on Thursday the EU's executive had no knowledge of migrants' rights being violated at the hotspots, either from European agencies or non-government bodies.
In its report released on Thursday, Amnesty cites 24 claims of abuse including beatings, electric shocks and sexual humiliation, to force the migrants to get fingerprinted in Italy as required by new EU rules adopted last year.
Migrants must be fingerprinted in the first EU country they arrive in, so that they can be processed and, if granted asylum, relocated to another EU state.
Many migrants, however, resist fingerprinting as they do not want to stay in Italy and want to travel to a specific country, often to reach relatives.
Amnesty said its report is based on interviews with 174 refugees and migrants, Italian officials and non-government organisations in Rome, Palermo, Agrigento, Catania, Lampedusa, Taranto, Bari, Genoa, Ventimiglia, and Como during four visits to the country this year.
The rights group said Italy's interior minister Angelino Alfano had failed to respond to repeated requests to discuss its concerns with him.
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