Delegates of the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) have found Greece must take further measures in ensuring an end to torture and maltreatment of detained individuals.
Greece also needs to certify that the national prevention mechanism plays an effective and critical role in the treatment of such persons. This has been determined by the SPT delegation upon visiting and assessing conditions at various types of detention centers in the country.
UN SPT delegation visits Greek detention facilities
During its mission, which began on October 6th and ended on October 17th, the SPT delegation visited prisons, mental institutions, youth detention facilities, and immigration detention centers, as well as police stations.
“While Greece faced significant challenges in recent years, more needs to be done,” said Anica Tomsic, head of the delegation. “We understand that steps are being taken to improve the rights of people deprived of their liberty, [but] the shortcomings need to be addressed and urgent action is needed to protect prisoners and prevent torture and ill-treatment here and now.”
Confidential interviews and meetings conducted
The UN SPT delegation conducted private and confidential interviews with those detained or deprived of their liberty. They also interviewed persons working in detention facilities. Members of the delegation met with European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, who oversees the designated national prevention mechanism.
To support the work of the Greek National Preventive Mechanism, the delegation held several discussions during visits to detention centers.
Submitting a confidential report to Greece
“We urged the government to step up its efforts to guarantee the operational independence of the national preventive mechanism. It is the key to sustaining ongoing efforts to prevent torture and ill-treatment,” Tomsic said.
The subcommittee will submit a confidential report to the government of Greece. Its observations and recommendations concern the prevention of torture and ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. As with all other states, it encourages Greece to make this report public after the visit.
The delegation consisted of Anica Tomsic, Head of Delegation (Croatia), Uju Agomoh (Nigeria). Suzanne Jabbour (Lebanon), and Juan Pablo Vegas (Peru). The delegation also included two human rights officials from the SPT Secretariat.
We should note that the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) had already published a report on its visit to Greece (from November 22, 2021 to December 1, 2021) calling for the assessment of prisoner treatment and progress made by authorities in implementing recommendations of the past decade.
In its report, the CPT concluded that far too many prisoners in Greece continue to live in conditions which represent an “affront to their human dignity.” It was emphasized that Greece needs to consistently and seriously impose further security and anti-torture measures.
