A long-standing culture of impunity, entrenched racism and endemic
violence, including the excessive use of force against protesters and
ill-treatment of migrants and refugees, has been exposed by Amnesty
International's research into policing in Greece. It follows an official
investigation into links between police and Golden Dawn.
By
December last year nearly 50 people, including the leader of Golden
Dawn, two police officers and five MPs, were arrested and charged with
offences ranging from murder and causing explosions, to blackmail. Ten
police officers were found to have direct or indirect links with
criminal activities attributed to Golden Dawn members.
“Our investigation shows
that the Golden Dawn debacle is only the tip of the iceberg. Entrenched
racism, excessive use of force and deep-rooted impunity are a blight on
the Greek police. Successive Greek governments have so far failed to
acknowledge, let alone tackle, these human rights violations by police
and on-going impunity,“ said Jezerca Tigani, Europe and Central Asia
Deputy Programme Director at Amnesty International.
“There is an
urgent need for a comprehensive structural reform of law enforcement
including the creation of an independent police complaint mechanism to
investigate allegations of unlawful police conduct. The Greek
authorities must restore the public confidence in Greek law enforcement
structures.”
Amnesty International has been documenting the
unlawful behaviour of police in Greece over many years. Its new research
looks at the situation over the last two years and concludes that it
remains bleak.
At the end of March 2014, police at Nigrita Prison,
in northern Greece, reportedly beat to death an inmate in solitary
confinement. The autopsy revealed that he was extensively beaten on the
soles of his feet and his chest, and that he had burns on his hands.
In
the past three years, there has been a dramatic escalation in hate
attacks against refugees and migrants. Hate crimes have also been
recorded against the Roma community and the LGBTI community. Law
enforcement officials have reportedly failed to prevent such attacks
and/or have failed to investigate the hate motive behind them.
“With
their actions Greek police pander to xenophobic far-right groups who
are intent on attacking anyone who does not conform to their idea of
mainstream society,” said Jezerca Tigani.
“Police have been used
as an indiscriminate tool by the authorities. Instead of maintaining law
and order, all too often they have been tasked with stifling dissent
and persecuting members of vulnerable groups. Their actions have been
left without independent scrutiny and their transgressions unpunished.
This has to change.”
Golden Dawn
On 17
September 2013, Pavlos Fyssas, a musician and anti-fascist activist, was
stabbed to death in Keratsini, a suburb of the capital Athens, by a
member of Golden Dawn. Eyewitnesses told the national media that eight
police officers belonging to the DIAS motorized police unit were already
present at the scene when Pavlos Fyssas and his friends were ambushed
by members of the far-right, but they did not intervene when Pavlos was
chased by some of them and subsequently stabbed by Giorgos Roupakias.
On
the following day, riot police dispersed demonstrators protesting
against the murder of Pavlos Fyssas with batons and chemicals. Thirty
one protesters sought medical treatment, many of them with head
injuries. The protesters reported that they had been beaten with police
batons, helmets and shields. They were pelted with stones by members of
far-right groups while riot police stood by and failed to protect them.
Gavril, a 32-year-old protester, lost his right eye and had undergone
three operations by the end of October 2013.
The case of Pavlos Fyssas prompted a major police investigation into the activities of Golden Dawn and links with the police.
Brutal treatment of refugees and migrants
Police
in Greece are tasked with controlling migration and detaining and
deporting irregular migrants. Under the ongoing sweep operation “Xenios
Zeus” between April 2012 and June 2013 more than 120,000 foreign
nationals were stopped for identity checks. Of those, only nearly 7,000,
or about five per cent, were found without identity papers.
K, a
Syrian refugee, described his ill-treatment by police at the Corinth
immigration detention centre in February 2013: “ The same policeman
began to kick me … I tried to stand and the policeman hit me again …
then he asked two police officers to take me to a room where I could not
be seen by other detainees … [In the room] the policemen started
kicking my chest … then a policeman slapped me and started beating me
with his fists on my face .”
Hate crimes
In
January 2013, two Greek nationals stabbed to death S. Luqman, a
Pakistani national living in Greece. However, police and prosecutors did
not take into account the possible racist motive of the attack. The
killing of S. Luqman showed many of the elements of an organized
racially motivated attack by a “hit squad” linked with Golden Dawn.
Their trial is currently on-going.
In September 2013, a Greek
woman was recorded on camera kicking a Roma girl playing the accordion
on a pedestrian street under the Acropolis in Athens. The police opened
an investigation into the incident and the alleged hate motive only
after the insistence of the non-governmental organization, Greek
Helsinki Monitor.
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