GENEVA / ATHENS (13 December 2019) – Greece has made improvements on ending arbitrary detentions, but still has
challenges due to widespread detention in the criminal justice and migration systems which must end, UN human rights
experts have concluded after a visit.
“We recognise and praise Greece’s efforts to address arbitrary detention through laws on alternatives to detention,
provisions for early release and plans to deinstitutionalise people with disabilities,” said a delegation from the
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, issuing a preliminary statement at the end of their 10-day visit.
“The cooperation from the authorities and their willingness to facilitate access to all places of detention, both
announced and unannounced, was outstanding. This should serve as a model for how the Working Group’s visits take place.
“However, the use of detention remains widespread in the criminal justice and migration contexts and we urge Greece to
end this policy. It is worrying that it has become the common response, despite the requirement under international law
that it should only be used as a measure of last resort.
“The use of pre-trial detention should be the exception not the rule. Implementing alternatives to detention would also
help alleviate serious overcrowding in penal establishments.”
The experts acknowledged that Greece continued to face “serious challenges” in the field of migration, given its
location on the southern border of the European Union.
“It is important that a regional approach is taken to address migration with full respect for the human rights of all
migrants, including those seeking international protection,” they said.
“Detention in the context of migration must be an exceptional measure of last resort, based on an individual assessment
of each migrant and for the shortest period.”
Aspects of the recent legislative reform in Law No. 4636/2019 which will come into force on 1 January 2020 are also of
concern, particularly the extension of the maximum limit of detention. “This cannot be reconciled with the international
human rights obligations undertaken by Greece,” they said.
“We are also seriously concerned that unaccompanied minors and other children are being detained and treated as adults.
Detention of children in the context of migration is prohibited under international law and should be discontinued.”
The Working Group also urged the Government to accelerate its work to deinstitutionalise people with disabilities, in
accordance with Greece’s treaty obligations.
During the visit, from 2 to 13 December 2019, the three members of the delegation, Jose Antonio Guevara Bermúdez, Leigh
Toomey and Sètondji Roland Adjovi, met Government officials, judges, lawyers, civil society representatives and other
relevant people. They visited 20 different places of detention, interviewing more than 150 people deprived of their
liberty.
A final report on the visit will be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in September 2020.