[ALBSA-Info] Open Letter - Greek Helsinki Monitor

[Agron Alibali]

IHF/GHM: Open Letter to Greek Minister of Justice on
Judicial System's Lack of Will to Deal with Incitement
to Hatred and Discrimination
 
 

 
 GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR (GHM)
 Address: P.O. Box 60820, 15304 Glyka Nera
 Telephone: (+30) 210.347.22.59. Fax: (+30)
210.601.87.60
 e-mail: office at g... website: 

<http://www.greekhelsinki.gr>http://www.greekhelsinki.gr

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 ---------------------- 
 
 
 OPEN LETTER TO GREEK MINISTER OF JUSTICE ON JUDICIAL
SYSTEM'S LACK OF WILL 
 TO DEAL WITH INCITEMENT TO HATRED AND DISCRIMINATION
 
 His Excellency
 Mr. Filippos Petsalnikos
 Minister of Justice
 Ministry of Justice
 Mesogeion 96
 GR 115 27 Athens, Greece
 Fax: +30 210 775 58 35
 
 
 Vienna and Athens, 
 4 September 2003
 
 
 Your Excellency,
 
 The International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights (IHF) and its member 
 organization Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) wish to
express their deep 
 concern about the failure of the Greek judicial
system to effectively 
 litigate clear cases of hate speech, punishable under
Greek law and 
 international conventions to which Greece is a party.
 
 We are grateful for your readiness to discuss several
human rights related 
 problems in Greece with GHM. We also appreciate the
recent appropriate 
 measures within the powers of your Ministry, which
you have taken to avoid 
 miscarriages of justice, which might lead to impunity
for human rights 
 abuses. We also welcome the positive stand that the
new Greek Ombudsman, 
 Professor George Kaminis, has taken towards an
effective implementation of 
 all legislation, which would guarantee the human
rights of all individuals 
 living in Greece.
 
 Despite these positive attitudes among high-ranking
authorities, there 
 appears to be a serious failure of some members of
the Greek judicial 
 system to deal with incitement to hatred and
discrimination punishable 
 under Greek legislation, in particular under Law N°
927/1979 as amended by 
 Law N° 1419/1984 and Law No 2910/2001.
 
 In the past twelve months, seven cases against the
publication of 
 anti-Semitic, xenophobic or racist texts in the press
have been filed by 
 Greek Helsinki Monitor on the basis of the
above-mentioned legislation. 
 Regrettably, however, one of these cases has lapsed
due to inactivity on 
 the part of the prosecutors; one has ended up in
acquittal despite 
 overwhelming evidence that Greek law had been
violated; and four are in the 
 process of being quashed, again, despite overwhelming
evidence of breaches 
 of law: in two of them, a trial date of 26 September
2003 had first been 
 set and then cancelled. A detailed memo on GHM’s
anti-racist litigation is 
 attached (see 

http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/english/organizations/ghm/anti-racist_litigation\
 .doc).
 
 · Two of the filed cases concern an openly
anti-Semitic letter 
 published in Eleftherotypia on 15 April 2002 and in
Ta Nea on 16 April 
 2002. We are shocked to learn that the indictment
chamber recently quashed 
 the first case after a date for the trial had already
been set, and that 
 the charges against Ta Nea are under consideration to
be dropped. The 
 defamatory letter read, among other things: “…It’s a
proven fact that Jews 
 are untrustworthy and fickle. They infiltrate
societies, first playing the 
 poor souls to generate pity and, when the time comes,
they’ll grab you by 
 the throat.”
 
 · A court in Patras dismissed a case against the
Patras neighbourhood 
 associations, which in November 2001 had published a
blatantly racist 
 letter against Roma in local newspapers in June 2003.
The letter read: 
 "Roma steal from the [non-Roma] resident's fields,
they snatch what they 
 can find from the yards of the homes. They loot our
cemetery, they swear, 
 they beat people, they ring our bells. They should be
immediately evicted 
 from the area; any postponement or delay in resolving
the problem we face 
 will lead to militant action from the residents."
 
 · In a further case a Greek prosecutor moved so
slowly that no trial 
 could be held against the publisher of a xenophobic
letter because the 
 statute of limitation had expired and the case
lapsed. The case concerned a 
 letter that was published on 26 January 2002 in the
financial supplement 
 Economicos Tachydromos of the daily To Vima. The
letter read, for example: 
 “Migrants, the scum who are being channelled into
Greece. They have come 
 just on a whim, to kill, rob and rape Greece.”
 
 · In the case of two complaints filed against Ta Nea
in which the 
 paper continued, despite warnings, to publish want
ads for homes for rent 
 and sometimes for jobs that ended with the phrase “no
foreigners,” 
 “foreigners excluded.” One of the cases was quashed
before a date for the 
 trial was set, in the other the date for trial was
set but the case went 
 back to the prosecutor who recommended that the
charges be dropped.
 
 After a year of litigation, only one case -- a case
against “Albanophobia” 
 -- is still proceeding in the judicial system. The
case was filed because 
 of a letter published on 12 October 2002 in the
financial weekly Ependytis 
 (in its supplement Symbol) and read, among other
things: "The 'terrible' 
 situation exists in Greece because of the 'Albanian
plague.' We should 
 exhibit exemplary cruelty to those who break the law,
in order for 
 Albanians to respect us and the type of society we
have managed to create."
 
 The outcome of the above-mentioned cases appears to
be a clear indication 
 of the lack of will among some prosecutors and judges
to hold trials or 
 convict persons for statements that are openly
racist, xenophobic or 
 anti-Semitic -- and which are penalized by Greek law
and international 
 standards.
 
 In light of the above information, the IHF and the
GHM respectfully urge 
 you to take all possible measures within your legal
competence to ensure that:
 
 · All prosecutors and judges are provided with the
necessary training 
 and instructions to rigorously implement Greece's
anti-racist legislation 
 which is part of Greece’s human rights obligations;
 
 · The four cases against Eleftherotypia and Ta Nea be
reviewed by the 
 Supreme Court and then referred to trial before most
lapse in October 2003;
 
 · The case against neighbourhood associations be
reviewed by the 
 Supreme Court and then referred to an Appeals Trial;
 
 · An investigation be launched into the slow judicial
procedure in 
 the To Vima case that led it to lapse before any
ruling or trial and 
 sanctions be imposed against those held responsible;
 
 · The pace of judicial proceedings concerning the
press, which have 
 an eighteen-month statute of limitation period, will
be accelerated in 
 order to ascertain that no litigations will lapse
solely on the ground that 
 the statute of limitation has expired as a result of
inactivity by 
 prosecutors or other judicial personnel;
 
 · The new EU Race Equality Directive be transposed
into national law, 
 worded in a way that would effectively exclude that
such cases may not be 
 tried, and taking into consideration the related
recommendations of the 
 Greek National Commission for Human Rights;
 
 · Greece makes the declaration under Article 14 of
the International 
 Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination 
 (ICERD) it had pledged to the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial 
 Discrimination (CERD) in March 2001, so that
individual or group complaints 
 could be lodged to CERD (Greece and the UK are the
only EU members who have 
 not made such declaration to date);
 
 · Make sure that the EU Race Equality Directive will
guide Greek 
 jurisprudence, along with jurisprudence of the
Committee on the Elimination 
 of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and recommendations
of the European 
 Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
recommendations; and that 
 Greek courts, when presented with arguments based on
international 
 conventions ratified by Greece, include them in their
deliberations and 
 explanations of their rulings, rather than ignoring
them as in the cases 
 mentioned herein
 
 
 Yours respectfully,
 
 Aaron Rhodes Panayote Dimitras
 Executive Director, IHF Spokesperson, GHM
 
 
 Cc:
 EUMC
 OSCE Delegations
 CoE
 UN
 
 Contact address:
 Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director, +43-1-408 88 22
or +43-676-635 66 12, 
 <mailto:office at i...>office at i...
 Panayote Dmitras, Spokesperson, Greek Helsinki
Monitor, +30-6944431941, 
 <mailto:office at g...>office at g...
 
 ____________________________________________________
 
 Internet Addresses: Balkan Human Rights Web Pages: 

<http://www.greekhelsinki.gr>http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
 The Balkan Human Rights 
 List: 

<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/balkanhr>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/balkanhr
 The Greek Human Rights List: 

<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greekhr>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greekhr
 Center of Documentation and Information on Minorities
in Europe - Southeast 
 Europe: <http://www.cedime.net>http://www.cedime.net
 GHM Board: Kevin Boyle, Panayote Dimitras, Orestis
Georgiadis, Dimitrina 
 Petrova, Gregory Vallianatos.
 International Advisory Committee: Savvas Agouridis,
Teuta Arifi, Ivo Banac, 
 Vladimir Bilandzic, Marcel Courthiade, Loring
Danforth, Fernand de 
 Varennes, Victor-Yves Ghebali, Henri Giordan,
Krassimir Kanev, Will 
 Kymlicka, Magda Opalski, Theodore S. Orlin, 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), One World
Net, South East 
 Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), World Organization
Against Torture (OMCT).

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