Submission of an update of the joint alternative report to the Committee Against Torture
The OMCT submitted an alternative report on Greece jointly with the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), Minority Rights Group - Greece (MRG-G) and the Coordinated Organizations and Communities for Roma Human Rights in Greece (SOKADRE). It is entitled “State Violence in Greece: An Update (October 2011-April 2012)”. OMCT reminds that a previous alternative report on Greece was submitted by OMCT, GHM, MRG-G and SOKADRE in October 2011(available here), as the 5th and 6th reports of Greece were due to be considered by the Committee against Torture during its 47th session (31 October - 25 November 2011).
Both alternative reports – the initial and the update – are based on the continuous work of OMCT, GHM, MRG-G and SOKADRE on the human rights situation in Greece, and emphasize the lack of progress by the authorities in improving the situation of detainees in both police stations and in prisons characterized by notorious overcrowding; describe the excessive use of force by state agents against the Roma minority especially in the context of forced eviction, and stress the prevailing impunity in numerous cases of human trafficking in which access to justice for victims remains particularly problematic.
The same organizations, together with the Albanian Helsinki Committee, submitted a special brief to the Committee regarding the case of the five hundred missing street children from the Aghia Varvara institution (cf. Case update under Attachments). This brief was submitted for consideration both of Greece and Albania, as most of the children were of Albanian origin. The NGOs urge CAT to request Greece and Albania to resume the investigation of this case, and to establish the whereabouts of the children.
The CAT public session on Greece will be webcasted. http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/