Commissioner for Human Rights

[11/02/10 10:40] The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, concluded yesterday a three-day visit to Greece during which he held discussions with a number of authorities including the Vice-President of the Government, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Citizen Protection. He also met with national, international and non-governmental organisations.

The Commissioner welcomed the willingness of the Greek government to tackle long-standing, structural problems in the field of asylum and police misconduct. "If implemented rigorously, systematically and in conformity with international standards, the planned changes have the potential of coping successfully with serious human rights challenges in Greece", Commissioner Hammarberg said.

The Commissioner noted with deep concern that asylum seekers in Greece continue to face enormous difficulties trying to gain access to the asylum procedure, and do not always enjoy basic safeguards such as interpretation and legal aid. He welcomed the current plans to proceed with an overhaul of the system and move towards a fair, accessible and swift asylum procedure. This includes in particular the establishment of an independent asylum agency and screening centres at entry points. During the visit, the Commissioner stressed that asylum and immigration are issues that can only be tackled effectively by a concerted effort at European level and that solidarity by other EU countries must therefore be increased.

The Commissioner was pleased to note the ongoing reform of nationality legislation, which aims to facilitate acquisition of Greek citizenship, inter alia, by children born in Greece to non-Greek parents. The reform will also grant long term residents the right to vote in local elections. "In this way, Greece will move towards greater compliance with European standards, and benefit from enhanced participation of people of migrant background to society", Commissioner Hammarberg stated.

As regards police misconduct, the Commissioner welcomed current plans to establish an office to deal with police complaints. He appreciated the openness of the Minister of Citizen Protection to draw on the expertise of other European countries and the guidance of the Commissioner himself, reflected notably in his Opinion concerning determination of complaints against the police.

Finally, as concerns the protection of the human rights of minorities, Commissioner Hammarberg stressed that the Greek authorities need "to show greater receptiveness to diversity in their society and to take further measures that would allow minority groups to express their identity on the basis of self identification". To this end, full and effective implementation of the relevant judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities are particularly important measures.