The two organisations stress that illegal pushbacks involving refugees in Greece remain a ‘systemic and unresolved issue’, while the judiciary continues to fail to investigate such cases effectively.
‘A year and a half after the country’s historic conviction by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the A.R.E. v Greece case, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will examine on Thursday 17 September whether the Greek authorities have taken sufficient measures to put an end to the illegal practice of refoulement and to ensure that allegations of refoulement are effectively investigated by the criminal justice system,’ the organisations said.
They added:
‘No substantial change has occurred during this period, as we point out in our latest submission to the Committee of Ministers, which we are publishing today. Incidents of refoulement continue to be systematically recorded, without being properly investigated by the prosecuting authorities, without perpetrators being punished and without justice being delivered to victims. No measure has been proposed by the government to strengthen the independence and effectiveness of criminal investigations.’
The detailed ten-page submission by the two organisations documents pushback cases, shortcomings in their judicial investigation, and concerns over police arbitrariness and a lack of transparency.
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