Strasbourg, 16/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Council of Europe's committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (CPT) published an alarming report on Thursday 16 October on its visit to Greece in April 2013.
This is the second investigation carried out by the CPT in Greece since the committee was set up after the Council of Europe (CoE) Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment came into effect in 1989. Warning bells were sounded in 2011, with particular concern raised on the conditions of detention of irregular migrants. Unfortunately, the findings of the 2013 visit demonstrated clearly that the situation had not improved.
In the course of the 2013 visit, the CPT delegation visited 25 police and border stations as well as eight immigration and coastguard detention facilities for irregular migrants detained under Aliens legislation. It also visited seven prison establishments.
The facts are stark. The report describes the “totally unacceptable conditions” in which irregular migrants are held for prolonged periods in police establishments all over the country. At the Perama police station in Piraeus, for example, two or more women were “held for months in a dark, mouldy and dilapidated basement cell of a mere 5m² with no access to outdoor exercise or hygiene products”, states the report, calling for urgent steps to transfer detained irregular migrants to specially designed centres and to no longer hold them in police stations.
The CPT is particularly critical of the treatment of unaccompanied minors. The report states that the Amygdaleza facility in Athens “was run like a police detention facility offering neither appropriate material conditions nor a supporting environment”.
The committee recognises, however, that the pre-departure centres that have been set up are a step in the right direction towards creating an immigration detention estate but it is critical of the security approach within these centres which treats detainees “in many respects as criminal suspects”.
As regards prison establishments, the CPT notes that the measures taken to tackle overcrowding have not had a lasting effect. The report notes the cramped conditions of detention in the prisons visited as most of them were operating at between 200% and 300% of their capacity. The list of failings is long: detained persons having to share beds, lack of hygiene, staff shortages making it impossible to control violence by the strong against the weak. The report notes, however, that the CPT's delegation had requested at the end of the visit that the juveniles be transferred to a safe environment, which the Greek authorities had subsequently arranged.
The report states that “a great number of detailed coherent and consistent allegations of physical ill-treatment of persons by police officers” were received but the current system of investigations into allegations of ill-treatment has proved unable to shed any light on these allegations. The CPT recommends that the mandate of the Office on Arbitrary Incidents be reviewed in order to ensure its independence and to strengthen its investigative and oversight capabilities. Recommendations are also made regarding the recruitment and training of police officers and on improving the application of safeguards against ill-treatment, such as access to a lawyer, access to a doctor and improving the conduct of interrogations.
In their response to the report, the Greek authorities provide information on a raft of measures taken to implement the CPT's recommendations. They reiterate that police stations are only for short stays and provide updated information on the development of the action plan on asylum and migration management. The response states that, at the Amygdaleza facility, efforts are being made to improve the material conditions and to provide constructive activities and better support mechanisms for minors.
Action is also being taken to address overcrowding through increasing the capacity in the prison estate and through early release measures, for which all prisoners including foreign nationals are eligible, as well as the introduction of house arrest and expanding community service, the Greek authorities state. They reject the CPT findings that the prisons are understaffed and that staff are not in a position to maintain effective control but accept the shortcomings in the provision of health-care in prisons. As regards allegations of ill-treatment by police officers, the response states that investigations into the cases raised by the CPT are ongoing and refers to the strict criteria now in place for the recruitment of officers.
The report is available on the CPT's website: http://www.cpt.coe.int . (VL)