[ALBSA-Info] Human Rights and Minorities in Greece

[Agron Alibali]

GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR (GHM)
MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP - GREECE
Address: P.O. Box 60820, 15304 Glyka Nera 
Telephone: (+30-1) 347.22.59. Fax: (+30-1) 601.87.60.
e-mail: office at greekhelsinki.gr website: http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
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PRESS RELEASE

23 July 2001


TOPIC: BARRAGE OF CRITICISM IN 2001 FROM INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 
ON DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT IN GREECE

On the occasion of tomorrow's 27th anniversary of the restoration of democracy in Greece (the Metapolitevsi period), our collaborating organizations, Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and Minority Rights Group - Greece (MRG-G), wish to draw attention to Greece's democratic deficit. Numerous intergovernmental organizations of the UN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Union have repeatedly cited Greece for serious human rights violations. Below are the main points of the eight pertinent texts published in the year 2001.

Greece is certainly not the only country with similar problems. But it may be the only country that stubbornly refuses to admit the existence of such problems - meaning, therefore, that it refuses to deal with them effectively. Justice Minister Mihalis Stathopoulos accurately observed that: "Only nationalists can claim that our country does not face the problems [of racism and oppression of minorities] that are plaguing every other country today. Societies are made up of human beings, not angels. And Greece is no exception to that rule. At some point we must rid ourselves of this Hellenocentric attitude that, in the end, is detrimental to our nation's interests." The National Commission for Human Rights has noted the tendency of the authorities to view international reports as "undermining the nation" and to treat them with either "secrecy or scorn." 

Therefore, on this anniversary of democracy, we call upon all the actors in public life (government, parliamentary parties, as well as intellectuals and the media) to take a sincere and constructive stand towards the sizable democratic deficit that is discrediting Greece in the international arena. Otherwise, this "public secret" will simply be perpetuated.

"THE BARRAGE IN 2001"

1. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (on 22-3-01) called upon Greece to respect minority self-identification, pointing out that the recognition of one minority and the non-recognition of others constitutes discriminatory treatment. It proposed introducing the teaching of Romani, Pomak, Albanian and other languages in the educational system. 
2. The UN Committee Against Torture (on 8-5-01) cited the presence of excessive or unjustified police violence especially against minorities and foreigners, harsh detention conditions in general, as well as the inhuman long-term detention of undocumented migrants and/or asylum-seekers awaiting deportation. 
3. The European Court of Human Rights convicted Greece twice for inhuman detention conditions in police stations (Dougoz vs. Greece, 6-3-01) and in prisons (Peers vs. Greece, 19-4-01). 
4. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called upon Greece to sign and/or ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Recommendation 1492/23-1-01). It also denounced the continuing practice of issuing prison sentences for defamation (Recommendation 1506/24-4-01). 
5. Josephine Verspaget, Chair of the Specialist Group on Roma/Gypsies of the Council of Europe, denounced (on 12-6-01) the policy of "institutionalized apartheid" against many Roma in Greece. "A shame on Greece" was how she described the squalid living conditions in numerous Roma settlements, which she likened only to those of the worst refugee camps in Africa and Asia. 
6. The European Parliament (on 4-7-01) also made mention of the abusive treatment of Roma, the consequent police impunity in such cases, and the violent evictions of Roma from Athens in advance of the 2004 Olympic Games. In addition, it cited restrictions on freedom of expression and on the administration of minority schools in Thrace, as well as the public administration's disregard for judicial decisions. 


Sources:

"Eleftherotypia" (15-7-01) http://www.enet.gr/online/online_p1_text.jsp?dt=15/07/2001&c=110&id=37362
http://www.ananeotiki.gr/dikaiwmata/ekthesi2000.htm
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/MasterFrameView/d3fcc3818953c1c0c1256a18005a1218?Opendocument (English) and http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/greek/articles/pr02_18_07_01.rtf (Greek)
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CAT.C.XXVI.Concl.2.Rev.1.En?OpenDocument (English) and http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/greek/articles/pr01_18_07_01.rtf (Greek)
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/Hudoc2doc2/HEJUD/200103/dougoz%20-%2040907jv.chb3%2006032001e.doc
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/Hudoc2doc2/HEJUD/200104/peers%20-%2028524jv.chb2%2019042001e.doc
http://stars.coe.int/ta/ta01/EREC1492.HTM 
http://stars.coe.int/ta/ta01/EREC1506.HTM 
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/greek/articles/pr_13_06_01.rtf (Greek) and
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/english/organizations/ghm/ghm_13_06_01.doc (English)
http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/libe/20010619/438240en.pdf (English) and 
http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/libe/20010619/438240el.pdf (Greek)

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GHM Board: Panayote Dimitras, Orestis Georgiadis, Dimitrina Petrova, Alan Phillips, Gregory Vallianatos. 
MRG-G Spokesperson: Nafsika Papanikolatos
International Advisory Committee: Savvas Agouridis, Teuta Arifi, Ivo Banac, Vladimir Bilandzic, Marcel Courthiade, Loring Danforth, Fernand de Varennes, Eran Fraenkel, Victor-Yves Ghebali, Henri Giordan, Krassimir Kanev, Will Kymlicka, Remzi Lani, Theodore S. Orlin, Magda Opalski, Dimitrina Petrova, Alan Phillips, Aaron Rhodes, Vladimir Solonari, Patrick Thornberry, Stefan Troebst, Boris Tsilevich, Tibor Varady, Marc Weller. 
Affiliation to International Organizations: Consortium of Minority Resources (COMIR), Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), Minority Rights Group International (MRGI), OneWorld.Net, South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO). 


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