Greece : International NGO coalition denounces serious difficulties in the implementation of the UN Convention Against Torture

INTERNATIONAL NGO COALITION DENOUNCES SERIOUS DIFFICULTIES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE Geneva and Athens, 23.11.2004 At its 33rd session, the Committee against Torture has reviewed the fourth periodic report of Greece on how that country gives effect to the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This country is among the 138 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which have the obligation to submit progress report. The Committee Against Torture is constituted of 10 independent Experts and chaired by Mr. Marino Menendez. At the same time, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), together with a Greek coalition composed of five important NGOs including : Centre for Research and Action on Peace (KEDE); Coordinated Organizations and Communities for Roma Human Rights in Greece (SOKADRE); Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM); Minority Rights Group - Greece (MRG-G); Support Center for Children and Family - Social & Education Action, has submitted an alternative report to the Committee Against Torture on State Violence in Greece. This report provides ample evidence of the prevailing impunity in Greece. It explains the large number of cases of ill-treatment, misuse of weapons, inhuman detention conditions, and systematic forced evictions. In the summary table included in the report, listing 117 individual cases and 5 raids of Romani settlements, it is evident that in none of these instances there was a satisfactory and final judgment with adequate punishment of perpetrators and redress to the victims. The situation in prisons and centers of detention is so worrying that the new Minister, of Justice deploring the situation, stated that “the situation is chaotic” after his visit to the main Thessaloniki prison. Doctors of the World – Greece called an illegal entrants’ detention center in Mytilini “a shame to civilization”. In this centers foreigners are packed one next to each other in wards of 100-200 persons: in each there is one toilet with running water for only one hour per day, while detainees –men, women and children- have access to the adjacent yard for only one hour per day! Another concern fully documented in the alternative report is about the situation of the Roma and migrants from Albania, and especially the children, who are amongst the most vulnerable persons in Greece. Children from these groups are frequently subject to different forms of exploitation and / or trafficking. This worrying situation is particularly illustrated by the incredible story of 500 street children who went missing while at the hands of the state. To combat the problem of trafficked street children, between 1998-2002 Hellenic Police arrested 661 mostly Albanian children and assigned them to what ministers had announced as the model shelter “Aghia Varvara” in Athens. Then, in early 2003, a “Terre de Hommes” report documented that hundreds of them had simply gone missing. Greek authorities at all levels did not react to the potential loss of hundreds of lives of children at the hands of the state. Since the Prosecutor’s Office did not take any action, NGOs filed a criminal complaint against Aghia Varvara staff and competent police officers, in May 2004; however insofar the preliminary inquiry is still pending. During its current dialogue with the official Greek delegation, the Committee Against Torture requested some additional information that will hopefully lead to further investigations on such a tragedy. Finally, the alternative report highlights that NGOs have been pushing for years for the introduction of comprehensive legislation on domestic violence and underlines that Greece must prioritise the adoption of its drafted legislation criminalizing domestic violence -including marital rape and corporal punishment- by introducing specific provisions into the criminal code, to strengthen its assistance to victims of domestic violence and marital rape. click here to download the "Alternative report on state violence in Greece" click here to download the "Executive summary on state violence in Greece"