In a letter to the Cypriot Minister of Interior dated 10 March and published on Thursday 18 March, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, “urges” Cypriot authorities to ensure independent investigations into allegations of ill-treatment and pushback of migrants by law enforcement officials.
Dunja Mijatović also calls for an improvement of living conditions in reception facilities for asylum seekers and migrants. She stresses that, far from preventing the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the restrictions on their freedom of movement in these facilities may endanger the health of staff and residents.
The Commissioner also notes that following the 2020 amendments to the Law about Associations and Foundations, several NGOs have been removed from the registers. Referring to the importance of preserving the functioning of civil society organisations, she calls on the Greek authorities to limit proportionate sanctions to what is strictly necessary and to avoid deregistration and dissolution as much as possible.
Link to the letter: https://bit.ly/3tEXmlH
And to the answer: https://bit.ly/3vGN2eq (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)