MINELRES: ERRC/GHM: Country Report on Roma in Greece

[European Roma Rights Center]

April 6, 2003

Announcement of Publication:
Cleaning Operations: Excluding Roma in Greece
A Country Report published jointly by the European Roma Rights Center
and Greek Helsinki Monitor

The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) and Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM)
today publish jointly Cleaning Operations: Excluding Roma in Greece, a
Country Report on the human rights situation of Roma in Greece. The
report was launched in the Romani settlement of Aspropyrgos, outside
Athens. The ERRC and GHM simultaneously lodged a collective complaint
under the European Social Charter on behalf of a number of Roma in
Greece, alleging that housing policy in Greece systematically violates
their fundamental human rights.

Large numbers of Roma in Greece live in racially segregated ghettos
which stand in stark contrast to any other residential areas of Greece.
A substantial part of the Romani population inhabits substandard housing
or has no housing at all. Racial segregation not only imposes on Roma
inhuman and degrading conditions but also denies Roma the enjoyment of a
range of other fundamental human rights. Reinforcing a policy of racial
segregation in the field of housing are high numbers of forced evictions
of Roma, frequently accompanied by wholesale destruction of property
belonging to Roma. Authorities engaging in such actions frequently deny
that evictions or destruction of property have taken place, and in many
cases state that they have indulged merely in �cleaning operations�. By
claiming that the massive and often violent police and municipal actions
in places where Roma live are only �cleaning operations�, authorities in
Greece assuage a racist popular opinion into the comfortable view that
such actions are harmless. In addition, the justification built around
the idea that a massive raid and forced eviction is a �cleaning
operation� absolves Greek authorities of the need to comply with
existing procedural guarantees. �Cleaning operations� have become a
by-word for efforts to expel Roma from the places in which they live.
The number and extent of such expulsions, combined with an explicit
policy of shifting Roma to the extreme perimeter of Greek society, have
compelled ERRC and GHM to conclude that Roma in Greece as a whole are
being held in a state of artificial remove, kept in permanently
circulating exclusion from the mainstream of Greek society. �Cleaning
operations� is the euphemism for the actions perpetuating that state of
exclusion.

On the occasion of publication of the report, ERRC Executive Director
Dimitrina Petrova said, �Greece�s human rights record on Roma is among
the worst in Europe. During my own field research in Greece, I found the
conditions of Roma among the most appalling I have seen anywhere. I was
also shocked at the extent to which issues such as ill treatment by the
police appeared to be a part of the everyday experience of many Greek
Roma. It is a travesty that a current member of the European Union --
indeed the European Union�s current Presidency -- has been able to
sustain a state of systemic human rights abuse against one segment of
its population for such a long time.�

GHM Spokesperson Panayote Dimitras said, �As the Greek National
Commission for Human Rights and the Chair of the Council of Europe�s
Specialists Group on Roma/Gypsies stated, Roma in Greece live in a
situation of institutionalised apartheid. Moreover, as ECRI, CPT and the
Greek Ombudsman have in various ways reported, impunity prevails in
Greece, and it is more pronounced in cases involving Roma (and
migrants) than others. Although legislative reform is also necessary,
the main problem is the prevailing intolerance of Greek society towards
minorities and the general absence of political will to fight it. Unless
attitudes change, Roma will continue to be objects of clean(s)ing
operations rather than subjects of rights.�

The joint ERRC/GHM report details a number of areas of concern,
including:

Cruel and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Roma in the Field of
Housing: Large numbers of Roma in Greece today live in a state of racial
segregation from non-Roma, in violation of the unequivocal ban on racial
segregation provided under international law. Racial segregation of Roma
is a matter of policy under a 1983 Ministerial Decree. In addition, Roma
in Greece frequently experience forced eviction and/or the threat of
forced eviction. In recent years, a sharp rise in the number of forced
evictions of Roma from settlements and the subsequent demolition of
their homes, as well as the destruction of property belonging to Romani
individuals or their families has been documented. The 2004 Olympic
Games, which will take place in Athens, are being exploited by the
region�s local authorities as a pretext for evicting Roma.

Police Violence Against Roma: Abusive police raids on Romani settlements
are commonplace in Greece. These raids are based on racial profiling of
Roma by the police. Numerous allegations of Romani victims also indicate
that ill-treatment of Romani individuals, amounting in some cases to
torture, and frequently including physical and verbal abuse in police
custody, is widespread. In the recent years, there have been at least
three deaths of Roma in Greece due to excessive use of firearms by law
enforcement officials. Police officers� use of racial epithets in some
cases of police abuse of Roma is indicative that racial prejudice plays
a role in the hostile treatment to which the officers subject Roma. The
Greek state�s obligations under international human rights law
notwithstanding, Greek authorities have failed to ensure that
allegations of torture and ill-treatment are promptly and impartially
investigated, or that perpetrators are brought to justice and victims
provided with adequate redress. Most incidents of police violence appear
to be ignored or, at best, receive only a cursory, informal
investigation by police, almost inevitably failing to result in adequate
disciplinary action against the police officers involved.

Exclusion of Roma from the Educational System: Romani children in Greece
are effectively denied access to education on a par with that received
by their non-Romani peers. A combination of racial discrimination and
extreme poverty ensures that very few Romani children are given the
opportunity to complete even basic primary education. Many Romani
children in Greece are subjected to segregation in ghetto schools and
Roma-only classes which provide inferior education. Municipal and school
authorities have actively hindered access of Romani children to
education by refusing to register Romani students in local schools and
dispersing them to schools far away from their places of residence as
well as by failing to provide school transport for Roma.

Barriers to Access to Health Care and Other Social Support Services:
Many Roma lack basic identity documents, making it impossible for them
to claim basic health care and state social benefits. The failure of the
health care system to accommodate the needs of Romani women and children
places these groups particularly at risk. Many Romani children are not
sufficiently provided with the protection offered by vaccination because
of a combination of their failure to attend school and the lack of
readily-understandable information available to their mothers.

The report concludes with detailed recommendations to the Greek
government aimed at remedying the human rights situation of Roma in
Greece. The report is available on the Internet at:

http://errc.org/publications/reports/greeceE_2003.rtf
http://errc.org/publications/reports/greeceE_2003.pdf
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/english/organizations/ghm/greeceE_2003.rtf
Paper copies of the report are available by contacting the offices of
the ERRC or the GHM.

_____________________________________________

The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal defence
in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the European
Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at http://www.errc.org.

European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary

Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax:   +36 1 4132201
E-mail: office@errc.org
_____________________________________________

Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) was founded in 1992 by members of Minority
Rights Group�Greece, an affiliate of Minority Rights Group�International. 
GHM is member of the International Helsinki Federation, the International 
Freedom of Expression Exchange, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights 
Network, the Southeast Europe Media Organization, the OneWorld.Net, and the 
World Organization Against Torture. GHM monitors, publishes and lobbies on 
human rights issues in Greece and, occasionally, in the Balkans. It has 
prepared (usually with other NGOs) detailed annual reports; parallel 
reports to UN Treaty Bodies; and specialized reports on media hate speech, 
ill-treatment, as well as ethnonational, ethnolinguistic, religious and 
immigrant communities, in Greece. It has co-published ��Hate Speech� in the 
Balkans� (1998) and �Greece Against its Macedonian Minority: the Rainbow 
Trial� (1998). Since 1997, in cooperation with the European Roma Rights 
Center, it runs a Roma Project for Greece. In 1998, GHM was a co-founder of 
the Center of Documentation and Information on Minorities in 
Europe�Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE) which operates a web 
site(http://www.greekhelsinki.gr) and two web lists covering human rights 
issues and comprehensive and comparable presentations of minorities in the 
region. In 2000, CEDIME-SE was one of the co-founders of the Consortium of 
Minority Resources (COMIR).

Greek Helsinki Monitor
P.O. Box 60820;
GR-15304 Glyka Nera,
Greece

Phone: (30) 2103472259
Fax: (30) 2106018760
E-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr


____________________________________________


SUPPORT THE ERRC and GHM

The European Roma Rights Center and Greek Helsinki Monitor
are dependent upon the generosity of individual donors for their
continued existence. If you believe the ERRC and GHM perform a service
valuable to the public, please join in enabling their future with a
contribution. Gifts of all sizes are welcome, bank transfers to the
ERRC/GHM accounts are preferred. Please send your contribution to:

European Roma Rights Center
Account holder: European Roma Rights Center
Bank�s name:    Budapest Bank Rt.
Account number: 99P00402686
(IBAN:          HU21-10103173-40268600-00000998)
Bank�s address: B�thori utca 1, H-1054 Budapest, Hungary


Greek Helsinki Monitor
Account holders: ETEPE
Bank: Citibank N.A. Greece
Bank address: Levidou 16,
GR-14562 Kifisia
Swift code: CITIGRAA
Account number: 5503804222
Address: P.O. Box 60820 GR-15304
Glyka Nera Greece