Monthly Archive for December, 2012
Police raid and search at the Athens University of Economics and Business (ASOEE) on Patission street, 28.12.2012
found at: contra info
From the outset, this police operation was used to repress the political hangouts in the faculty of ASOEE. After the raid on Villa Amalias squat on December 20th, the State chose to strike another ‘den of lawlessness’, namely one of the studios as well as the rooftop antenna of the Athens free radio station 98FM downtown. Please spread the word far and wide…
Continue reading ‘Athens: The faculty of ASOEE raided, immigrant street vendors beaten and arrested, and 98FM equipment confiscated by cops’
Committee against Torture
27 June 2012 / Document CAT/C/GRC/CO/5-6
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 19 of the Convention
Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture: Greece
(…)
Allegations of torture and ill-treatment, impunity
10. The Committee expresses its serious concern at persistent allegations of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials during arrest or detention, including in the premises of the Criminal Investigation Departments (CID). The Committee is also concerned at the limited number of such cases that have been prosecuted, the very limited number of final convictions, and the lack of sanctions due to mitigating circumstances etc, in cases where there have been convictions. The Committee notes that this does not correspond to recent decisions and rulings from international bodies, including the Human Rights Committee and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as persistent allegations and extensive documentation received from other sources. The Committee also reiterates its concern at the continued reluctance of prosecutors to institute criminal proceedings under article 137A of the Criminal Code and that only one case has resulted in a conviction under this article. In addition, the Committee shares the concern of the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture regarding the limited forensic evidence available to corroborate allegations of ill-treatment amounting to torture (arts. 1, 2, 4, 12 and 16).
(…) Continue reading ‘Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture: Greece / June 2012’
(Brussels) – The European Union and its member states should do more to help the thousands of Syrian asylum seekers trying to reach Europe as the Syrian crisis worsens and winter sets in, Human Rights Watch said today.
Between March 2011 and September 2012, 21,000 Syrians claimed asylum in the European Union. While some EU countries offer Syrians safety, in others, including Greece, they face detention, significant obstacles in getting protection, and even forced return, Human Rights Watch said.
“Syrians seeking asylum in the European Union face a protection lottery depending on which country they reach,” said Judith Sunderland, senior Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The EU should make sure that Syrian refugees and others who need protection can find a safe haven in all EU member states just as they have in countries bordering Syria.”
Continue reading ‘HRW 2012: EU: Provide Protection for Syrian Refugees’
Greece is seriously failing to respect the rights of asylum-seekers and migrants, Amnesty International warned in a briefing published on December 20th.
Every year, tens of thousands of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers from the Middle East, Asia and Africa cross the Greek land and sea border with Turkey in search of shelter, refuge or just a better life within the European Union (EU). Few of them find it in Greece.
Amnesty International’s briefing Greece: The end of the road for refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants charts the obstacles they encounter entering the country and challenges they face once there.
Continue reading ‘Amnesty International: Asylum-seekers and migrants in Greece hounded by police operations and right-wing extremists’
By Naomi Kresge
It was 6.30 a.m. on a Saturday when Greek Coast Guard Ensign Chrisafis Theofilos’s boat got a report of a migrant drowning off the coast of the island of Lesvos.
As dawn began to break, Theofilos sped south toward the man’s coordinates. His scheduled departure had already been delayed five hours by a broken radar system that headquarters in Athens hadn’t yet fixed. That made night patrols too dangerous. Before Theofilos got to the man, another Coast Guard boat had already picked him up and taken him to the hospital with hypothermia.
Continue reading ‘In Greek migrant camp, refugees find tough road to Europe’
Defamation, threats, verbal and physical attacks, administrative sanctions and judicial harassment are used to deter human rights defenders from working with migrants and from combating the rising xenophobia and racism in Europe. Perpetrators can be both state and non-state actors.
It is not acceptable to intimidate and attack defenders of migrants’ rights
In several European countries, the rise of xenophobic and anti-migrant discourse has negatively impacted on the work of human rights defenders who protect and promote the rights of migrants. Human rights defenders are even increasingly labelled as traitors who are threatening national identity and security. They are often exposed to intimidation and abuse.
Continue reading ‘Nils Muižnieks / Council of Europe Commissioner: Restrictions on defenders of migrants’ rights should stop’
In a recent visit a committee of Syriza party, a residents initiative and other solidarity groups from Thessaloniki (including parliamentarians, lawyers, doctors and member of the movement “deport racism” and of the “network for the documentation of racist violence”) visited the police station of Vatipaidi following the repeated citicism of the local residents initiative concerning detention conditions for migrants. 
The aim was to control the situation, to discuss with the authorities, to provide legal information to detainees and to check wether there are medical needs. The result: The committee was informed that there were 14 suicide attempts within only three months registered within the two small detention cells!
The authorities confirmed the inacceptable detention conditions and allowed entrance to the committee. The committee reached the following findings:
– 38 detained migrants in 2 cells
– detention reaches 6 or 12 months following orders (ΑΕΑ 6634/1-326796 of 23-8-2012) of the Aliens Directorate
– overcrowdedness leads to easy transfer of contagious diseases such as scabies
– no access to outside areas
– food consists only of uncooked dry meals
– not enough clothing and blankets in very cold cells
– no hygiene insanitary infrastructure
– 14 suicide attempts within 3 months!
The interview was held by Ilias Maravas for EPA Aigaiou
I remember that I arrived at the shore. I looked for them but I couldn’t find anyone. Then I remember that I woke up in the hospital.
The only survivor of the refugee tragedy of Friday near Lesvos island is a 16-year-old from Bamiyan in Afghanistan. He had entered a dinghy with 28 other Afghans on Friday when after one hour the dinghy started getting into distress and water entered the boat. It turned around and they all fell into the sea.
Continue reading ‘Accounts of the only survivor of the ship tragedy nearby Lesvos on Friday 14th’
Eleven young men of Syrian origin were being provided with first aid, food and clothing in southern Crete on Monday after being dumped off the coast of the southeastern Aegean island by human traffickers and forced to swim to shore.
All 11 of the would-be migrants told investigating coast guard officers in Rethymno that they had been taken off a larger boat that brought them near Crete and then rowed closer to shore in a dingy from which they were told to jump in the water and swim to safety. Continue reading ‘Eleven Syrians dumped off southern Crete coast’