Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on Greece

Strasbourg, 30.06.2009 - The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published today the report on its ad hoc visit to Greece in September 2008, together with the response of the Greek Government. These documents have been made public at the request of the Greek authorities.

In the course of this visit, the CPT reviewed the treatment of persons detained by law enforcement officials and examined the conditions of detention in police and border guard stations as well as in special facilities for illegal migrants, in order to evaluate progress made since the CPT's last visit to Greece in 2007.

Published Tuesday 30th June 2009

6. Conclusions

52. The findings of the 2008 visit to Greece confirm that persons apprehended by Greek law enforcement agencies continue to run a considerable risk of being ill-treated. However, at the same time, there are signs that some modest steps forward have been made; in particular, compared to previous visits, the CPT's delegation received fewer allegations from irregular migrants of ill-treatment on apprehension.

In terms of preventing ill-treatment, the Committee is struck by the fact that there continues to be no structured or systematic approach towards addressing this phenomenon. There is no independent police complaints mechanism or independent authority for the inspection of detention facilities of law enforcement agencies, nor are there any standards for systematically carrying out a forensic medical examination on persons making allegations of ill-treatment before a judge. In many cases, not even access to a lawyer or a doctor was arranged in a satisfactory manner. It appeared once again to the CPT that, in Greece, the combating of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials depends largely on personal initiative.

The Greek authorities have made it clear in regulations and public statements that they will not tolerate any abuse by law enforcement officials. However, in order to eradicate ill-treatment by such officials, it is essential that more rigorous systems be put in place which guarantee that allegations of ill-treatment are thoroughly, promptly and effectively investigated by an independent authority and that perpetrators of ill-treatment are punished accordingly. Further, it is important that the system be transparent in order to gain the confidence of the public and to be seen as fair by law enforcement officials.

53. The CPT must reiterate that the conditions of detention of the vast majority of irregular migrants deprived of their liberty in Greece remain unacceptable.

Detention facilities in police and border guard stations are designed to hold persons for short periods only and should never be used for prolonged detention. Even for periods of detention of a few days the material conditions, hygiene and access to medical care are unacceptable and call for radical improvement.

Both the special facilities for irregular migrants and the police holding facilities continue to suffer in many cases from the same defects identified by the Committee in its reports on the 2005 and 2007 visits. The CPT considers that the proposed new facilities in Lesbos and near Patras provide an opportunity for the Greek authorities to construct appropriately designed centres for the detention of foreigners held under Aliens legislation. Care should be taken in the design and layout of these premises to avoid the shortcomings identified at both the Petrou Ralli and Filakio facilities.

The CPT acknowledges the present significant influx of irregular migrants into Greece. However, this cannot justify the poor conditions under which many detained irregular migrants are currently accommodated. The Committee believes that much would be gained from an improved organisation and enhanced cooperation between the main actors responsible for managing accommodation and care for irregular migrants. The Filakio special facility demonstrates that when all the relevant State and local government bodies cooperate, it is possible to provide for a reasonably clean and well-maintained establishment.

54. The CPT recalls that its first visit to Greece took place in March 1993. To date, more than 15 years after that visit, the Committee finds itself in the regrettable position that it has to repeat many of its recommendations concerning the prevention of ill-treatment. For instance, the 1993 recommendations concerning forensic medical examinations in case of allegations of ill-treatment as well as those concerning the application of fundamental safeguards, such as in particular the right of access to a doctor and the right of access to a lawyer, remain as valid today as they were in 1993. Likewise, recommendations intended to fundamentally improve the conditions of detention for irregular migrants have been made in every report since 1997, but have been largely ignored by the Greek authorities.

The CPT has gone to great lengths over the years to convince the Greek authorities to implement the Committee's recommendations. The Committee has visited Greece eight times since 1993 and has also held high-level talks with the Greek authorities on two occasions, most recently in February 2007. Until now, to little avail.

Once again, it has become clear to the CPT that there is an urgent need for an unambiguous commitment at the highest level in order to improve the situation in practice. The CPT trusts that the response of the Greek authorities to this visit report will make clear that the recommendations made by the Committee are being properly implemented.