Call on the Greek government to set up an independent commission of inquiry

Riot police break up protest march in Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Greek police shot and killed 15-year-old Alexandros-Andreas (Alexis) Gregoropoulos in Athens on 6 December 2008. A longstanding history of human rights violations committed by police in Greece was highlighted by the shooting and by the conduct of officers policing subsequent demonstrations in December 2008 and January 2009.

Following these events, Amnesty International has received numerous reports of such violations by police in the context of policing the protests, including excessive use of force and firearms, torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and denial of prompt access to legal assistance. Complaints of such violations have also been received from children.

Amnesty International believes that the authorities' response to the killing of Alexis Gregoropoulos and the protests which erupted in the aftermath of his death should not end with the ongoing police and judicial investigations.

In this context, a strong message must be sent to the Greek government that no one can be above the law - especially those charged with enforcing it.

Take Action. Join Amnesty International in urging the Greek government to set up an independent commission of inquiry, mandated to investigate the full circumstances surrounding the death of Alexis Gregoropoulos and the police response to the demonstrations and the riots that began on 6 December.

Amnesty International

Έκθεση "καταπέλτης" κατά της ΕΛΑΣ

Για "σοβαρές παραβιάσεις ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων" επικρίνει την ελληνική αστυνομία η Διεθνής Αμνηστία και καλεί την κυβέρνηση να κάνει έρευνα.

Σε έκθεση της που δημοσιοποιήθηκε τη Δευτέρα, η Διεθνής Αμνηστία αναφέρει ότι η αντίδραση της αστυνομίας στις ταραχές του Δεκεμβρίου στην Αθήνα υπήρξε "το αποκορύφωμα της συνταγματικής παραβίασης στην προστασία των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων".

Υποστηρίζει επίσης ότι μετά τον τερματισμό των ταραχών τον Ιανουάριο έλαβε πολλές καταγγελίες (για την παραβίαση ανθρώπινων δικαιωμάτων από την αστυνομία) τις οποίες έθεσε υπόψη του υπουργού εσωτερικών Προκόπη Παυλόπουλου.

Η ελληνική κυβέρνηση δε έχει απαντήσει στην έκθεση της Διεθνούς Αμνηστείας.

Ωστόσο, διπλωματικές πηγές υποστηρίζουν ότι η αστυνομία επέδειξε εξαιρετική αυτοσυγκράτηση, αν λάβει κανείς υπόψη τις περιστάσεις.

Skai.gr

Greek prison uprising spreads to women's jail

Women prisoners in Thiva, Greece have refused to return to their cells and early reports speak of fire inside the jail complex. The uprising is the second in as many days in Greece as yesterday inmates in Hania, Crete also refused to obey prison officer's orders and occupied parts of the jail in protest over conditions. According to latest accounts units of the riot police in Hania are on high alert and the situation remains tense as prisoners refused to be locked in their cells last night.

The incident in Thiva was sparked off by the death of a fellow inmate and activist, Katerina Goulioni under as yet undetermined circumstances while being transferred to another jail. The situation was further exacerbated when ministry of justice officials refused to allow inmates to talk with prison rights groups today.

According to other prisoners quoted in the national daily newspaper, Ta Nea Goulioni 41, was found dead with her hands bound behind her back and with blood on her face. She had taken a leading role in the prison hunger strike that took place last November and had campaigned viciferously against the policy of enforced body cavity searches in Greek jails.

According to information provided by the Greek Ministry of Justice, Katerina Goulioni died of a heart attack. The official coroner’s report is expected next week.

Reports from Indymedia Athens also speak of tensions in the maximum security Korydallos prison in the Greek capital with prisoners in several wings threatening hunger strike.

Last November nearly two thirds of prisoners in Greek jails boycotted food in protest over conditions. The action ended when the then minister of justice agreed to comply the inmates list of demands, however, prison rights groups charge the government has reneged on its agreement after Nikos Dendias took charge of the ministry of justice this year.

Conditions in the country's prison system have regularly been condemned by organisations such as Amnesty International and The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Amnesty International has called on the Greek authorities to carry out an independent and impartial investigation into the full circumstances of the death of Katerina Goulioni; and into the complaints that she had lodged about the treatment of women prisoners.

Nowpublic

Prisoners in Greek jails pay the price for dramatic escape

Greek prison

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uploaded by Teacher Dude

The dramatic escape by helicopter from Athens maximum security Korydallos jail by two prisoners for the second time last week turned convicted kidnappers, Vasilis Paleokostas and Alket Razai into folk heros for many ordinary Greeks. Betting sites are offering odds on if the two will be recaptured whilst on Facebook the Paleokostas Airlines group has already 51,000 members.

However, for the 12,000 other prisoners behind bars in Greece's grim jails conditions are set to deteriorate still further as the new minister for Justice, Nikos Dendias has annouced a series of measures designed to clamp down on "lax practices" by prison officers. In many cases the concessions won by prisoners after last November's mass hunger strike (see here for full story) have been revoked or will not be implemented.

As Ioanna Drosou, a prisoners' rights activist said in an interview with Greek net - based news service TVXS.gr the government has reneged on their promises to improve the conditions in the country's jails despite have been repeatedly condemned by organisations such as Amnesty and the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

Arbitary violence by prison officers, widespread drug use, overcrowding and primitive health care facilities have all been cited as areas that need to be tackled in order to bring Greek jails in line with European standards.

However, last week's prison break out which has severely embarrased the ruling New Democracy government has lead instead to a tightening of security, a move which prisoners rights organisations such as the Initiative for the Rights of Prisoners argue will futher isolate inmates from wider society and add to ths problems inherent in the prison system.

NowPublic

Tags: Greece | Amnesty | World | cpt | New Democracy | Greek prisons | tvxs.gr | paleokostas | korydallos | nikos dendias

The Voice of the Socially Excluded

Yesterday I took the opportunity to go to The Voice of the Socially Excluded conference which was held at the Aristotelion University of Thessaloniki. This was a two day event which gave various social groups such as drug uses, ethnic minorities and immigrants the chance to voice their opinions to a wider audience .

Genti Guri, an immigrant from Albania who has been in Greece for nine years spoke of being imprisoned in the country as he is obliged, like so many others to get a residence permit every two years. No problem there you might add but the procedure is long, complicated and expensive, riddled with corrupt official on the take. As a result the process can take up to two years every time, during which the person may not leave the country even for such crisis such as a death in the family.

Others such as Mustapha Serwan, a disabled immigrant originally from Afghanistan and Larisa Iasonidou, an ethnic Greek from Armenia both told of the problems faced by people trying to life in a country where who you know rather than what you know is the main determiner in getting a job and in fact, virtually every aspect of public life here.

However, the most heartrending moments were delivered by Alexandros Karasiadis, a member of a team of Greek lawyers and human rights activists who have been investigating what can only be termed Greece's hidden gulag in which asylum seekers are held for months in absolutely appalling condition in warehouses and old cow sheds with no heating, running water, access to legal services or even a phone, for that matter.

Then the immigrants are often deported from the country without the opportunity to even apply for asylum. Not that that would help much as less than three percent of such cases are approved. The border police's casual brutality and the unwillingness of Athens to follow European law or even its own legislation has drawn criticism from Amnesty international, the United Nations and many other European countries such as Germany and Sweden which have refused to return younger immigrants to Greece due to numerous allegations of ill - treatment.

Free Abdul Rahman Shaghouri

Syrian Human Rights Committee campaigns to release a sixteen-month detainee for surfing the net. Sixteen months has already elapsed since Mr. Abdul Rahman Shaghouri was arrested for surfing sites with special interests to Syrian current affairs, downloading and distributing some news to friends.

Their contact information is here.

Amnesty international

As a result of the Blogme case here in Greece, I've decided to join Amnesty's Irrepressible Info campaign. The idea is that bloggers and other internet users can circumvent government censorship;

" Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information.

The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT companies in the world – are cracking down on freedom of expression.

Amnesty International, with the support of The Observer UK newspaper, is launching a campaign to show that online or offline the human voice and human rights are impossible to repress.

Find out more about this campaign"

If you wish to have a similar badge on your site (click here) and follow their simple instructions.