Greece
05.02.02
Urgent Interventions
Greece: Police attacks, property destruction and arbitrary arrests during a raid on a Roma settlement
Case GRC 050202
Arbitrary arrests and detention/Aggression and other attacks/Torture/Ill-treatment
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Greece.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Greek Helsinki Monitor about police attacks, property destruction and arbitrary arrests during a raid on the Roma settlement of Nea Zoe, Aspropyrgos, in the Attica region of Greece.
According to the information received, on January 28th, 2002, between 10:30 and 11:00 in the morning, an estimated 100 to 150 police officers, arriving in both marked and unmarked vehicles as well as on foot from several directions, engaged in a police drugs raid in the settlement of Nea Soa. According to the report, the majority of the officers were dressed in civilian clothing or olive drab fatigues, while very few were wearing standard police uniform. As the raid ensued, officers ordered Roma individuals to lie face down on the ground while they aimed their guns at them. Meanwhile, other officers entered into almost every home - in some circumstances by force - in search of both drugs and hiding Roma persons. Once all the individuals were gathered outside of the homes, officers began to threaten and harass the group while they waited for transport vehicles. During this time, reports indicate that bullets were fired into the air, while several incidents of police brutality were also registered.
According to the report, during the raid, 21 year old Mrs. Yannoula Tsakiri, who was one and a half months pregnant, was outside a shed when an officer discovered her and ordered her to lie on the ground. Before she was able to do so, the officer kicked her in the back to force her to the ground, causing her to bleed internally. The severity of her situation was noticed by several associates of Greek Helsinki Monitor, who brought her to the Maternity Hospital Elena Venizelou, having met with her at a court she was attending with relatives. Mrs. Tsakiri had a miscarriage on February 1, 2002. Mrs. Tsakiri is an undocumented Greek resident, and therefore is unable to receive state benefits, but the social services department of the hospital has offered to help her in attaining the necessary documents in order to receive state aid.
Also during the raid, Mr. Pavlos Christodoulopoulos, a 22 year old Romani youth, received multiple knee blows to the stomach from one officer, while another held Mr. Christodoulopoulos down, and 22 year old Mr. Michalis Aristopoulos was slapped three times by an officer. In one home, 17-year old Ms. Aikaterini Karayannopoulou was taking a bath when officers ordered her to come out, threatened her, and then broke down the door. Mrs. Karayannopoulou only had enough time to put on a shirt before she was taken to a ruined building and body searched by women officers, but in the presence of men, which constitutes degrading treatment.
According to the information received, following the assembly of all persons in the settlement, authorities detained at random 10 to 15 individuals, whom they arbitrarily guessed may have had arrest warrants pending against them, and took them to the Aspropyrgos Police Station in an unmarked police van. There, the authorities body searched all individuals, and found that Mr. Athanasios Sainis, age 19, was in possession of a small quantity of hashish. Mr. Sainis was taken to a separate detention cell, and asked to testify that he had bought the hashish from an elderly Romni arrested the same day. When he refused, the police beat him, and later signed a deposition for him, which stated that he had bought the drugs from an elderly woman.
According to the information, the same van returned to the settlement where it picked up 6 to 8 Roma women along with four of their children, all under the age of 4, and also drove them to the Aspropyrgos Police Station, where all the women were subsequently body searched. According to the information received, all of the Roma had their fingerprints taken and were asked to sign depositions that were not read to them. All but five were released that evening at around 8:00 pm.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT is gravely concerned about the arbitrary arrests of the afore-mentioned persons and, in certain circumstances, the use of excessive force and beatings, which amount to torture, that are carried out by the Greek police. More generally, OMCT is gravely concerned about the Greek police’ systematic use of arbitrary arrests, beatings, threats and discrimination against Roma persons.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Greece urging them to:
i. order the immediate release of those detained in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
ii. guarantee adequate reparation to Mrs. Yannoula Tsakiri and all other persons injured during these events;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, notably the Convention on the Rights of the Child when dealing with persons under the age of 18.
Addresses
· Constantine Simitis, Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s Office at the Hellenic Parliament, Greek Parliament Blgd, Constitution Square, Athens / Greece, Fax: +30 10 724 17 76, Email: Mail@primeminister.gr
· Constantine Skandalidis, Minister of Interior, Ministry of Interior, Stadiou 27 str, Athens 101 83 / Greece, Fax: +30 10 323 32 18
· Filippos Petsalnikos, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Mesogeion 96, Athens 115 27 / Greece, Fax: +30 1 775 58 35
· George Papandreou, Foreign Minister Athens, Fax: 30 10 36 81 433, Email: gpap@mfa.gr
· Christos Protopappas, Minister of Press and Information, Athens, Greece Fax: +30 10 36 06 969
· Mr. Mihalis Hrysohoidis, Minister of Public Order, Athens, Greece, Fax: + 30 10 6917944
Please also write to the embassies of Greece in your respective country.
Geneva, February 5th, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary arrests and detention/Aggression and other attacks/Torture/Ill-treatment
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Greece.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Greek Helsinki Monitor about police attacks, property destruction and arbitrary arrests during a raid on the Roma settlement of Nea Zoe, Aspropyrgos, in the Attica region of Greece.
According to the information received, on January 28th, 2002, between 10:30 and 11:00 in the morning, an estimated 100 to 150 police officers, arriving in both marked and unmarked vehicles as well as on foot from several directions, engaged in a police drugs raid in the settlement of Nea Soa. According to the report, the majority of the officers were dressed in civilian clothing or olive drab fatigues, while very few were wearing standard police uniform. As the raid ensued, officers ordered Roma individuals to lie face down on the ground while they aimed their guns at them. Meanwhile, other officers entered into almost every home - in some circumstances by force - in search of both drugs and hiding Roma persons. Once all the individuals were gathered outside of the homes, officers began to threaten and harass the group while they waited for transport vehicles. During this time, reports indicate that bullets were fired into the air, while several incidents of police brutality were also registered.
According to the report, during the raid, 21 year old Mrs. Yannoula Tsakiri, who was one and a half months pregnant, was outside a shed when an officer discovered her and ordered her to lie on the ground. Before she was able to do so, the officer kicked her in the back to force her to the ground, causing her to bleed internally. The severity of her situation was noticed by several associates of Greek Helsinki Monitor, who brought her to the Maternity Hospital Elena Venizelou, having met with her at a court she was attending with relatives. Mrs. Tsakiri had a miscarriage on February 1, 2002. Mrs. Tsakiri is an undocumented Greek resident, and therefore is unable to receive state benefits, but the social services department of the hospital has offered to help her in attaining the necessary documents in order to receive state aid.
Also during the raid, Mr. Pavlos Christodoulopoulos, a 22 year old Romani youth, received multiple knee blows to the stomach from one officer, while another held Mr. Christodoulopoulos down, and 22 year old Mr. Michalis Aristopoulos was slapped three times by an officer. In one home, 17-year old Ms. Aikaterini Karayannopoulou was taking a bath when officers ordered her to come out, threatened her, and then broke down the door. Mrs. Karayannopoulou only had enough time to put on a shirt before she was taken to a ruined building and body searched by women officers, but in the presence of men, which constitutes degrading treatment.
According to the information received, following the assembly of all persons in the settlement, authorities detained at random 10 to 15 individuals, whom they arbitrarily guessed may have had arrest warrants pending against them, and took them to the Aspropyrgos Police Station in an unmarked police van. There, the authorities body searched all individuals, and found that Mr. Athanasios Sainis, age 19, was in possession of a small quantity of hashish. Mr. Sainis was taken to a separate detention cell, and asked to testify that he had bought the hashish from an elderly Romni arrested the same day. When he refused, the police beat him, and later signed a deposition for him, which stated that he had bought the drugs from an elderly woman.
According to the information, the same van returned to the settlement where it picked up 6 to 8 Roma women along with four of their children, all under the age of 4, and also drove them to the Aspropyrgos Police Station, where all the women were subsequently body searched. According to the information received, all of the Roma had their fingerprints taken and were asked to sign depositions that were not read to them. All but five were released that evening at around 8:00 pm.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT is gravely concerned about the arbitrary arrests of the afore-mentioned persons and, in certain circumstances, the use of excessive force and beatings, which amount to torture, that are carried out by the Greek police. More generally, OMCT is gravely concerned about the Greek police’ systematic use of arbitrary arrests, beatings, threats and discrimination against Roma persons.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Greece urging them to:
i. order the immediate release of those detained in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
ii. guarantee adequate reparation to Mrs. Yannoula Tsakiri and all other persons injured during these events;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, notably the Convention on the Rights of the Child when dealing with persons under the age of 18.
Addresses
· Constantine Simitis, Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s Office at the Hellenic Parliament, Greek Parliament Blgd, Constitution Square, Athens / Greece, Fax: +30 10 724 17 76, Email: Mail@primeminister.gr
· Constantine Skandalidis, Minister of Interior, Ministry of Interior, Stadiou 27 str, Athens 101 83 / Greece, Fax: +30 10 323 32 18
· Filippos Petsalnikos, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Mesogeion 96, Athens 115 27 / Greece, Fax: +30 1 775 58 35
· George Papandreou, Foreign Minister Athens, Fax: 30 10 36 81 433, Email: gpap@mfa.gr
· Christos Protopappas, Minister of Press and Information, Athens, Greece Fax: +30 10 36 06 969
· Mr. Mihalis Hrysohoidis, Minister of Public Order, Athens, Greece, Fax: + 30 10 6917944
Please also write to the embassies of Greece in your respective country.
Geneva, February 5th, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.