usds hr report greece 1994

8/14/2019 USDS HR Report Greece 1994

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NOT AN OFFICIAL COPY

Government officials harassed and placed under surveillance international anddomestic human rights monitors. In May the courts accepted a lawsuit initiated by a

private citizen and joined by the Public Prosecutor against Christos Sideropoulosunder Article 191 of the Criminal Code for statements Sideropoulos allegedly made at

a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) press conference inCopenhagen in 1990. The trial was postponed in October for 1 year because the

plaintiff, a lawyer from Piraeus, failed to show up on the appointed date.

The Government recognizes only one minority, the Muslim minority referred to in the1923 Treaty of Lausanne, and refuses to acknowledge the existence of any other national (i.e., non-Greek) minority. It does not deny the existence of Greeks of Turkish, Pomak, Vlach, Arvenite, or Roma ethnic background, or of various linguisticor religious communities. The Government denies, however, members of the

Slavophone community the right to declare themselves a Macedonian minority (seeSection 2.b.).Responding to a Council of Europe (COE) team of international monitors whichissued a report on its visits to police stations, prisons, and psychiatric hospitals, theGovernment took corrective action to relieve severe overcrowding and harsh livingconditions in some prisons. Almost all pending cases restricting freedom of expression have been dropped since the repeal in December 1993 of a law against"insulting authority," with the exception of two. Several religious minorities report adiminution in discrimination and religious persecution. One instance of prosecution

for religious proselytizing was reported in 1994.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:

a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no reports of political killing, but there were several reports of persons

killed while in official custody.

The Albanian Government twice protested killings by Greek police or military personnel of six to eight Albanians who had illegally entered Greece. In the first case,the Albanian Government in March described the Greek shooting while in custody of an apprehended illegal Albanian alien, Alfred Abas Muco, 21 years old. After amilitary investigation, the Greek Government replied that Muco's killing wasaccidental. In the second case, on August 22, the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

protested the killing of Ormen Gjoka and maiming of Ali Reci (broken back) while in

Greek custody during the Greeks' forcible expulsion of Albanians. Greece returnedGjoka's body and Reci to Albania on August 23 without publicity or explanation.


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The Albanian Government also protested the deaths of six unnamed Albanians duringthe Greek roundup and expulsion of Albanian aliens in August-September. Of the six,one was reportedly a 19-year-old woman, shot in the head; another was a 21-year-old

man, shot in the back. Two others of the six reportedly drowned in a river duringflight from pursuing Greek police. It was not known whether the six dead referred toinclude Ormen Gjoka, mentioned above. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs statesthat it requested but did not receive identifying information about the six from theAlbanian Government to aid investigation of the cases, and it is not known if anyinvestigation was conducted.

The Government has not provided any further information on the army's investigationof the February 27, 1993, incident in which a Greek soldier shot an Albanian. After a

request by the German Embassy in Athens for a followup investigation into the deathof Ramon Joachim Schulz, the Government reaffirmed the conclusion of the originalinvestigation, that Schulz died of a heart attack, despite evidence to the contrary.

Greek terrorists attacked and killed three persons in 1994--a Turkish diplomat, a prominent Greek banker, and a Greek policeman. There have been no arrests made inthese cases.

b. Disappearance

No cases of disappearances were reported in 1994. The case of two ethnic Greeks of Albanian citizenship who disappeared on March 4, 1993, remained unsolved. TheGovernment claimed that the two were not in custody when they disappeared,although Amnesty International reported that they were seen being arrested by anarmed policeman, and initially the police confirmed they were holding them.

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution specifically forbids torture, and a 1984 law made the use of torturean offense punishable by a sentence of from 3 years to life imprisonment. However,this law has never been invoked, even though there were credible reports that policeand military personnel beat and otherwise ill-treated illegal Albanian aliens in the

process of deporting them in August and September. The Government denied suchreports.

A December 1993 report by the COE's Committee for the Prevention of Torture andInhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) concluded that certain

categories of persons detained or arrested by the police, particularly persons arrestedfor drug-related offenses or for serious crimes such as murder, rape, or robbery, run a


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significant risk of being ill-treated and are occasionally subjected to severe ill-treatment or torture.

The report stressed that the Government should examine diligently all allegations of

ill-treatment and prosecute and punish offenders. It also emphasized the need for additional education for police on human rights questions; better training in moderninvestigation techniques; and the acquisition and development of interpersonalcommunication skills by police officers. Finally, it stressed the need to strengthenformal safeguards against the ill-treatment of persons detained by the police,including the right to access to a lawyer from the outset of detention.

The COE report stated that allegations of ill-treatment included kicks, punches, slaps,stamping on feet, as well as blows with the butt of a pistol or wooden sticks. The

report also noted allegations of an even more serious kind, in particular of falaka(beating on the soles of the feet) and the administration of electric shocks; it indicatedthat the Athens and Thessaloniki police had inflicted such treatment at policeheadquarters. The COE team's medical personnel confirmed that physical evidencefrom the victims was consistent with their allegations. In addition, the COE teamobserved a variety of unlabeled wooden sticks and batons at the Thessaloniki policeheadquarters, as well as a hand-held device for delivering electric shocks which wasdiscovered in the personal locker of a police officer attached to the Thessaloniki

police headquarters.

The Government conducted its own internal review of these charges and reported inAugust on the status of 33 lawsuits filed against policemen in the period 1989-1993for abuse, torture, and ill-treatment. Twenty cases were still pending in court or under investigation; in three cases, the police officers were found innocent; one policeofficer was sentenced to 2 years in prison for slapping a prisoner in the face; and innine cases the charges were dropped. The Government refused to accept theCommittee's observations concerning investigation methods, torture, and ill-treatment, dismissing them as without foundation.

The COE report described conditions of detention in police establishments visited asvarying from adequate to extremely poor and in one case as inhuman. It noted promptcompliance with a recommendation to close cells in two police stations immediately.

There were few reports of physical abuse from most prisons, although the COE reportcited ill-treatment of prisoners by prison staff at the Larissa prison as an exception.According to another credible report, two Albanian prisoners who attempted to escapein 1993 from a prison on the island of Kos were beaten severely after their recapture.

An investigation by the Ministry of Justice resulted in bringing charges in September against three prison guards for "dangerous bodily harm" and against another for


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"simple bodily harm." In April the Ministry issued strict instructions to prisonwardens to prevent physical abuse of the incarcerated. The Minister of Justice

personally conducted followup investigations and visited prisons.

The wardens of two prisons were fired for misconduct and failing to follow or enforce proper guidelines for treatment of prisoners. The Ministry has announced a training program for prison guards to prevent abuse of prisoners, but it has not yet begun.

Prison overcrowding, particularly at the Korydallos prison near Athens, was relievedin 1994 as a result of a new law which permits parole after a prisoner has served two-fifths (versus the previous three-fifths) of a prison term. Implementation of this lawresulted in the release of 1,200 prisoners by July, roughly 1 out of every 6 of the total

prison population. The Justice Ministry also implemented special prison programs for

the treatment of drug addicts and a pilot vocational training, legal, and mental healthcounseling program for juveniles. A new detention and court center was opened inThessaloniki; the old center had been cited in the COE report as particularlyinadequate.

Prison conditions for conscientious objectors improved somewhat in 1994, as a resultof government action to reduce overcrowding. In addition, the Government beganrenovations to the Kassandra prison, which was notorious for its poor living, health,and sanitary conditions.

The COE team provided an independent monitor of prison, police station, and psychiatric hospital conditions. Such independent monitoring, however, was notregularly scheduled.

d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

The Constitution requires judicial warrants for all arrests, except during the actualcommission of a crime, and the law prohibits arbitrary arrest orders. The police do not

always respect these safeguards (see below). Police must, by law, bring a personarrested on the basis of a warrant or while committing a crime before an examiningmagistrate within 24 hours. The magistrate must issue a detention warrant or order therelease of the detainee within 3 days, unless special circumstances require a 2-dayextension of this time limit.

Defendants brought to court before the end of the day following the commission of acharged offense may be tried immediately, under a "speedy procedure." Althoughlegal safeguards, including representation by counsel, apply in speedy procedure

cases, the short period of time may inhibit the defendant's ability to present anadequate defense. Defendants may ask for a delay to provide time to prepare their


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defense, but the court is not obliged to grant it. The speedy procedure was used in lessthan 10 percent of misdemeanor cases. It was not used at all for felonies.

Despite these legal safeguards, the police sometimes violate them. For example, both

the COE team and Greek defense lawyers stated that the police, during investigationof serious crimes, occasionally interrogated suspects as "witnesses," allegedly becausewitnesses do not have the right to legal representation during police questioning.Statements made to the police in these circumstances may be used against these

persons in court if they are later charged and brought to trial. Witnesses do not havethe legal right to remain silent, although no one is required to testify against himself.In such cases access to a lawyer may be effectively denied until after interrogation,which in some cases has resulted in torture or ill-treatment and the subsequent signingof a statement. These circumstances were reportedly most likely to occur in the case

of serious crimes, including drug offenses, in which the police did not have sufficientevidence to convict without a confession. The Government did not prosecute nd

punish any officials for such misconduct during the year.

The effective maximum duration of pretrial detention was 18 months for felonies and9 months for misdemeanors. A panel of judges may grant release pending trial, withor without bail. A person convicted of a misdemeanor and sentenced to 2 years or lessmay, at the court's discretion, pay a fine in lieu of being imprisoned. The percentageof the incarcerated population comprised of pretrial detainees was 33 percent,

according to government sources.

There were no reports of incommunicado detention.

Exile is unconstitutional, and no cases have been reported since the restoration of democracy in 1974. However, Greek citizens not of ethnic Greek origin who traveloutside the country may be deprived of their citizenship and refused readmittance tothe country under Article 19 of the Citizenship Code. Article 20 of the Code permitsthe Government to strip citizenship from those who "commit acts contrary to the

interests of Greece for the benefit of a foreign state." (See Section 2.d. for moreinformation on the application of these articles.)

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The judicial system includes three levels of courts, appointed judges, an examiningmagistrate system, trial by judicial panel, and the right of appeal by both prosecutionand defense. The Constitution provides for the independence of the judiciary, butthere are credible charges that judges sometimes allow political criteria, including the

desire to obtain promotion, to influence their judgments.


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Judges are not appointed for life. Mandatory retirement ages vary with the type of court. Some judges expressed concern that the change in the way judges are selectedmight affect the independence of the judiciary. Previously, they were elected by their

peers, but under the new law they are chosen by their superiors.

The Government has taken Christos Sideropoulos to trial five times in 4 years for speaking publicly about the existence and rights of what he identifies as aMacedonian minority. A case brought by a private citizen was accepted and joined bythe prosecutor in May despite the fact that the allegedly offensive statements weremade at a CSCE conference in Denmark in 1990. Under Article 6 of the CriminalCode, Greek citizens may be prosecuted for actions committed abroad only if thoseactions are punishable under the laws of that country. Sideroupoulos's allegedstatements do not constitute an offense under Danish law, but Greek courts and the

Greek Government permitted the case to go to trial; in September, the scheduled trialwas postponed for 1 year.

The Constitution provides for public trials, and trial court sessions are open to the public, unless the court decides that privacy is required to protect victims andwitnesses or national security matters. According to defense attorneys, the latter

provision has not been invoked since the restoration of democracy in 1974. Thedefendant enjoys the presumption of innocence, the standard of proof of guilt beyonda reasonable doubt, the right to present evidence and witnesses, the right of access to

the prosecution's evidence, the right to cross- examine witnesses, and the right tocounsel. Lawyers are provided to defendants (in felony cases, only) who are not ableto afford legal counsel.

The legal system does not discriminate against women or minorities, with one clear exception: Article 19 of the Citizenship Code (see Section 2.d.) applies only to Greek citizens who are not ethnically Greek.

As noted above, the courts continue to permit prosecutions of minority activists who

violated laws that limit freedom of expression (see Section 2.a.). However, no onewas imprisoned as a result of such charges in the last 5 years. Those convicted have

been allowed to convert their convictions to a fine of about $4.00 a day.

f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence

Although the Constitution prohibits invasion of privacy and searches withoutwarrants, and the law permits monitoring personal communications only under strict

judicial controls, the variety of persons and groups subjected to government

surveillance in recent years raises questions about safeguards. Targets included


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human rights monitors, non- Orthodox religious groups, and activist members of minority groups.

In June a parliamentary investigation committee recommended indictment of former

Prime Minister Mitsotakis and 30 persons from the former Mitsotakis administrationon charges of wiretapping political opponents from 1989 to 1991. In January 1995,the Parliament voted to drop all charges against Mitsotakis. The others will be tried incriminal courts in 1995.

The security services continued to monitor human rights and minority grouprepresentatives and foreign diplomats who met with such individuals. Human rightsmonitors also reported the continuation of suspicious openings and diversions of mail,some of which was never delivered but was subsequently published in newspapers

with apparent links to Greek security services. So far as is known, the Governmenttook no steps to stop such practices or to prosecute those involved.

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

Freedom of speech and press is provided for in the Constitution and generallyrespected in practice, but with some significant exceptions. Some legal restrictions on

free speech remain in force and were invoked in one case in 1994 concerning the rightof an individual to identify himself as a member of a Macedonian minority in Greece.The charges in this case were based on what the individual said, not on violent acts or criminal behavior.

On matters other than those involving the question of ethnic minorities, Greece enjoysa tradition of outspoken public discourse and a vigorous free press. Satirical andopposition newspapers do not hesitate to attack the highest state authorities.According to journalists, self-censorship was practiced on national security and Greek

national identity issues.The Constitution allows for seizure (though not prior restraint), by order of the public

prosecutor, of publications that insult the President, offend religious beliefs, containobscene articles, advocate violent overthrow of the political system, or disclosemilitary and defense information. Seizures have been rare, however, and did not occur in 1994.

In December 1993, the Government repealed a law which forbade "insultingauthority" and outlawed prosecution of otherwise actionable "offenses committed by

or through the press." As a result of these changes, a number of trials involvingrestrictions on freedom of speech initiated under the previous government, including


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the cases of five Trotskyites and two journalists, were terminated. With the December 1993 repeal of an antiterrorism law, the Government lifted restrictions on the

publishing of the communications of terrorist groups; this provided a forum for the publication of the proclamations of Greek terrorist groups during a period of stepped-

up terrorist activity. Several other articles of the Penal Code which were used in the past to restrict free speech and press remain in force. (Article 141 of the Penal Codeforbids "exposing the friendly relations of the Greek State with foreign states todanger of disturbance;" Article 191 of the Code prohibits "spreading false informationand rumors liable to create concern and fear among citizens and cause disturbances inthe country's international relations and inciting citizens to rivalry and division,leading to disturbance of the peace.") The Government continues to use laws tocharge individuals who raise politically sensitive topics, such as relations with theFormer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the assertion of ethnic minority

identification. An example is the case of Christos Sideropoulos, who describedhimself as a Macedonian activist (see Section 1.e.). Two other freedom of expressioncases from previous years are scheduled to be heard by appeals courts in 1995.

On April 14, charges were dropped against Sadik Ahmet Sadik for an article he published in 1989 in which he alleged discrimination and repression against ethnicTurks in Greece. Sadik also appealed to the Supreme Court a February 1 conviction

by the First Appeal Court in Thessaloniki for falsifying signatures on a petition hecirculated among the Muslims of Thrace. Two other cases pending against Sadik

involve charges of theft, unlawful entry in public buildings, and inciting violenceduring altercations with the authorities in Thrace about new textbooks distributed bythe Greek Government in 1992. These two cases have been postponed.

The 1975 Constitution provides that the State exercise "immediate control" over radioand television. An independent, government-appointed body with the authority toenact rules governing private broadcasting established procedural regulations for radio several years ago. In 1993 it did so for television as well, issuing licenses to six

private stations. Many other private television stations operated without licenses,

however. State-run stations tended to emphasize the Government's views and positions but also reported objectively on other parties' programs and positions.

Throughout much of western Thrace, Turkish-language satellite television broadcastsare widely available. The mayors of two cities in the region set up satellite groundstations for their Turkish-speaking constituents. Eleven Turkish-language

publications--eight weekly newspapers and three monthly magazines--are publishedand circulated in Thrace. Newspapers and other periodicals from Turkey aredistributed in small numbers when brought in by taxis and travelers.

Academic freedoms are respected.


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b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly. Police permits were routinely

issued for public demonstrations, and there were no reports that the permitrequirement was abused. The Constitution provides for the right of association, whichwas generally respected, except in cases involving ethnic minorities. In 1994 theSupreme Court upheld the 1991 decision of lower courts to deny registration to the"Macedonian Cultural Center" in Florina, organized by Greeks who consider themselves of Slavic descent. The 1991 ruling held that "the true goal of thesociety...is to affirm the idea of the existence of a Macedonian minority in Greece,which contradicts (Greece's) national interests and the law." The organizers plannedto appeal the decision to the European Court of Human Rights.

Greek authorities, while recognizing a Muslim minority, did not recognize theexistence of other minorities based on ethnic grounds (see Section 5). This is contraryto the 1990 Copenhagen document of the CSCE to which the Government is a party,which asserts that "to belong to a national minority is a matter of a person's individualchoice."

c. Freedom of Religion

The Constitution establishes the Greek Orthodox Church, to which perhaps 95 percentof the population at least nominally adhere, as the prevailing religion but prohibitsdiscrimination against religious minorities. The Greek Orthodox Church wieldssignificant influence through its relationship with the Ministry of Education andReligion. Religious training is mandatory in Greek public schools for Greek Orthodox

pupils. Non-Orthodox students are exempt from this requirement. However, there arereports from Helsinki Monitor (Greece) that some schoolteachers force Jehovah'sWitnesses students to attend Orthodox services. The Constitution limits religious

practice by prohibiting proselytizing. In contrast to past years, in 1994 only one arrest

for proselytizing by other faiths was reported.

In January police in Thessaloniki arrested two members of the Church of Latter-daySaints (Mormons) for violating immigration law and jailed them overnight. After a10-day trial, they were acquitted. The Church complained in September of harassment

by local thugs in Piraeus but at the same time reported a generally improvedrelationship with local police. Traditionally, Jehovah's Witnesses ministers were notgranted the exemption from military service accorded under Greek law to clergy of "known religions" and thus served prison sentences for refusing military service.

Since 1990-91, the Council of State, the highest court dealing with civil andadministrative matters whose opinions are binding on the Government, has ruled that


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selection issue. Some Muslims accept the authority of the appointed muftis; otherselect muftis to serve their communities.

The Government denied entry to two Turkish theologians invited to Thrace for

Ramadan and in July refused to admit a delegation of six religious leaders fromTurkey to enter Greece on the grounds that they intended to engage in political, notreligious, activities.

d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, andRepatriation

The Constitution calls for freedom of movement within and outside the country, andthe right to return. However, Article 19 of the Citizenship Code distinguishes between

Greek citizens who are ethnic Greeks and those who are not. Most Article 19 casesinvolve ethnic Turks from western Thrace, since only the "Muslim minority" isrecognized as having non-Greek ethnicity.

Greek citizens who are not ethnic Greeks may be deprived of their citizenship if it isdetermined that they left Greece with the apparent intention not to return. However,immigrants who are ethnic Greeks are normally recognized as Greek citizens andaccorded full rights, despite years or even generations of absence from Greece.

The Interior Ministry initiates proceedings under Article 19 on the basis of reports bylocal authorities in Greece or by Greek embassies or consulates abroad. It holdshearings at which the affected person is neither present nor notified of the hearing.Those who lose Greek citizenship as a result of such hearings sometimes learn of thisloss only when they seek to reenter Greece. According to the Foreign Ministry, 42

persons lost Greek citizenship under Article 19 in 1994 as of October (down from 123in 1993).

Persons who lose their Greek citizenship under Article 19 have the right of

"administrative appeal" to the Interior Ministry and may also appeal to the Greek Council of State and to the Council of Europe. Leaders of the Turkish-origin Greek community complain that the time and expense involved tends to discourage suchappeals. Three persons who lost Greek citizenship in 1993 and three persons who lostcitizenship in 1994 have filed administrative appeals which are pending. Six decisionson appeals from previous years were taken in 1993: three denied and three upheld theappeals, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Another section of theCitizenship Code, Article 20, permits the Government to strip citizenship from thosewho "commit acts contrary to the interests of Greece for the benefit of a foreign

state." While the law as written applies equally to all Greeks regardless of their ethnic background, according to activists who support minority causes, it is exercised


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principally against those who speak out against government policy on national issues,including at least three activists who call themselves Macedonian.

Some Greek citizens, particularly those of Slavic descent, credibly reported that they

were subject to extensive searches and questioning at the border when traveling between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Greece maintains restricted military zones along its borders, including along itsnorthern border with Bulgaria, an area where many Pomaks (Muslims who speak aBulgarian dialect) reside. Since entry into the zone is strictly controlled, even for localinhabitants, some residents of the area complain that their freedom of movement isrestricted. Foreign diplomats are allowed into the zone only under escort and withspecial authorization. Greece frequently offers temporary asylum, though rarely

permanent resettlement, to a growing number of refugees from Turkey, Iraq, and Iran.Permanent resettlement in Greece is not usually available for nonethnic Greek refugees. There are 3,482 cases of asylum seekers in Greece with apparentlylegitimate claims to refugee status that are under review by the Government incooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In August and September, the Government rounded up and expelled over 50,000illegal Albanian migrants from Greece. There were credible allegations by Albaniansand by international human rights observers of abuse of some deportees, especially at

border crossings on the Greek-Albanian border. The roundup coincided with sharplyworsened relations between the Governments of Greece and Albania, resulting fromthe trial of five ethnic Greek leaders in Tirana on treason and weapons charges.Ethnic Greek immigrants, including those who came from the former Soviet Unionsince 1986 and those rescued from the civil war in Georgia, normally qualified

promptly for citizenship and special assistance from the Government. The returneeshave been settled initially on government-owned land in western Thrace, wheregovernment programs to get them to remain have met with limited success. Mostmove to Athens, Thessaloniki, or other cities where job prospects are better.

Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change

Their Government

Greece is a multiparty democracy in which the Constitution calls for full politicalrights for all citizens and for the peaceful change of governments and of theConstitution. However, the Government limits the right of some individuals to speak

publicly and associate freely on the basis of their self-proclaimed ethnic identity and

thus impinges on the political rights of such persons. It also combined voting districtsin Thrace, making it impossible for ethnic Turks to be elected there (see below).


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Although there are no legal restrictions on the participation of women or minorities ingovernment or politics, women's representation at the higher levels of political liferemain low. The head of the Communist Party is a woman. Women hold noministerial positions in the Government and only 3 of 26 deputy ministerial positions.

Eleven of the 300 members of Parliament are women. Women are underrepresentedin the leadership of the two largest parties.

Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and NongovernmentalInvestigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights

The Government allows domestic human rights organizations to operate but may or may not cooperate with them. In principle, it respects the right of foreign diplomats tomeet with officials and other citizens, including critics of official policy, though it is

clear that the security services observe contacts of human rights monitors, includinglistening in on conversations held between those monitors and human rightsinvestigators and diplomats. The security services' surveillance of such meetings isoften blatant, and some such meetings are treated tendentiously in the press. Monitorsview this activity as a form of intimidation and say that it deters others from meetingwith investigators.

Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, orSocial Status

The Constitution provides for equality before the law and the full protection of individual life, honor, and freedom irrespective of nationality, race, language, or religious or political belief.

Violence against homosexuals is not common in Greece. However, policeoccasionally harass gay bar owners and gay men, including detaining them at policestations overnight and sometimes physically mistreating them. Homosexualsdiscovered in the military service are dismissed for reasons of "mental illness," and

would-be draftees are exempted from compulsory military service for the samereason. Declared homosexuals exempted from military service for that reason areineligible for public sector jobs.

Women

There are broad constitutional and legal protections for women, including equal payfor equal work, but the General Secretariat for Equality of the Sexes (GSES), anindependent government agency, maintains that these laws are not consistently

enforced, and as a consequence women generally receive lower salaries than men for


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similar jobs. A GSES report states that in 1993 average women's salaries in retailtrade were 79.4 percent of those of men in comparable positions.

Although there are still relatively few women in senior positions, in recent years

women have entered traditionally male-dominated occupations in large numbers.

The incidence of reported physical violence against women is low; however, theGSES asserts that police tend to discourage women from pursuing domestic violencecharges and instead undertake reconciliation efforts, though they are neither qualifiedfor nor charged with this task. The GSES also claims that the courts are lenient whendealing with domestic violence cases; it hopes that attitude will change as morewomen enter the judiciary.As a result of pressure from women's groups, a center for battered women was

established in Athens in 1988, and a residential facility for battered women and their children opened in 1993. These centers provide legal advice, psychologicalcounseling, information on social services, and temporary residence for batteredwomen and their children. They received approximately 250 women in 1994.

The Government lists progress on women's issues as a high priority and established anew position of Deputy Minister for Women's Affairs in the Office of the PrimeMinister. This Office and the GSES coordinate efforts to remove barriers.

Children

Legislation enacted in 1992 prohibits and provides penalties for all forms of maltreatment of children perpetrated by parents or others. The State provides

preventive and treatment programs for abused children and for children deprived of their family environment, seeking to ensure that alternative family care or institutional

placement is made available to them.

However, children's rights advocacy groups claim that protection of high-risk children

in state residential care centers is inadequate and of low quality. They cite lack of coordination between welfare services and the courts, inadequate funding of thewelfare system, and poor manning of residential care centers as systemic weaknessesin child abuse prevention and treatment efforts. Societal abuse of children in the formof prostitution, pornography, and child labor is rare in Greece.

In recent years, Greece has experienced a dramatic rise in the population of streetchildren, mainly from Albania, who panhandle or peddle at city intersections on

behalf of adult family members or for organized crime. Police occasionally take these

children into custody and bring them to state or charitable institutions which care for wayward children. Parents can reclaim their children from these institutions, but risk


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deportation if they are illegal immigrants. The number of Albanian street children has been greatly diminished since the expulsion of illegal Albanians in August-September 1994. Roma children are still in evidence on Athens streets, however. Few childrenare available for adoption by childless couples. As a result, occasional cases of

prosecution against the selling of Greek babies to childless couples are reported.

Usage of public health facilities by Roma is low because of the low rate of integrationof Roma communities within Greek society and social security systems. Ninety

percent of Roma are not insured by any of the government social security systems because they are self-employed or work in off-the-books jobs that do not makecontributions to the social security system. The fact that health facilities are notlocated close to the camps in which the Roma live also contributes to their low rate of access.

National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

There are communities in Greece which identify themselves as Turks, Pomaks,Vlachs, Roma, and Macedonians. Many are fully integrated into Greek society. Theonly minority Greece formally recognizes is a "Muslim minority," which is referred toin the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. The Government insists on the use of this rubric torefer to several different ethnic communities, most of which adhere to the Muslimfaith. The Muslim minority is comprised primarily of ethnic Turks or Turkish

speakers in western Thrace, which the Government estimates at roughly 120,000 persons. In addition to people of Turkish origin, it includes Pomaks (Muslims whospeak a language akin to Bulgarian) and Roma. Many Greek Muslims, includingPomaks, identify themselves as Turks and say that the Muslim minority as a wholehas a Turkish cultural consciousness. The use of the word "tourkos" ("Turk") is

prohibited in titles of organizations, though individuals may legally call themselves"tourkos." To most Greeks, the word "tourkos" connotes Turkish identity or loyalties,and many object to its use by Greek citizens of Turkish origin. Use of a similar adjective, "tourkoyennis" (of Turkish descent/affiliation/ ethnicity), however, is

allowed (see also Section 2.b.).

Northern Greece is home to an indeterminate number (estimates range from under 10,000 to 50,000 or more) of Greek citizens who are descended from Slavs or Slavophones. Some still speak a Slavic dialect, particularly in the Florina district. Asmall number of them consider themselves to be members of a distinct ethnic groupwhich they identify as Macedonian and assert their right to minority status. TheGovernment continues to harass and intimidate some of these people, including

putting one person on trial for asserting the existence of a Macedonian minority (see

Section 2.a.), denying their right to association (see Section 2.b.), monitoring activists'meetings with human rights investigators (see Section 2.d.), and accusing activists


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publicly of being agents of a foreign government. These activists say that, as a result,some Greeks who consider themselves Macedonian do not declare themselves openlyfor fear of losing their jobs or other sanctions.A 1994 report by Human Rights Watch/Helsinki entitled "Denying Ethnic Identity--

the Macedonians of Greece" charged, inter alia, that an ethnic Macedonian minoritywith its own language and culture exists in northern Greece and that the Greek Government's denial of that minority is in violation of international human rights lawsand agreements. They also state that the Greek Government discriminates against thisminority in violation of international law or agreements to which it is a party. Inresponding to these charges, the Government says that it recognizes, under theCopenhagen CSCE document, the right of people to identify themselves as membersof ethnic minorities. However, it states that such self-identification does not requiregovernment recognition of such a minority or entitle its members to any privileges

under CSCE or other instruments. As noted , however, the Government continues todeny the rights of free speech and association to some who have tried peacefully toassert what they consider o be their minority rights.

Government officials and Greek courts deny requests by individuals and groups toidentify themselves using the ancient term Macedonian, since some 2.2 million ethnic(and linguistically) Greek citizens already use the term to identify themselves. TheGreek Government does not define the dialect spoken by some thousands of northernGreeks as Macedonian, and government officials deny that it is a language at all. The

officials also noted that Greece regulates the establishment of all commerciallanguage academies, and questioned whether advocates of "Macedonian" languageschools meet the relevant requirements. They added that the Government would notinterfere with the holding of informal language classes within the Slavophonecommunity.

The Secretariat for Adult Education (a government agency) in 1994 revised upwardits estimate of the number of Roma in Greece to approximately 300,000. Almost half

of the Roma population is permanently settled, mainly in the Athens area. The other half is mobile, working mainly as agricultural workers, peddlers, and musiciansthroughout the country. Government policy is to encourage assimilation of Roma.Poverty, illiteracy, and social prejudice continue to plague large parts of the Roma

population. The Secretariat for Adult Education conducted education programstargeting the Roma population, including the use of mobile schools. Some 1,200Roma children attended the mobile school program during the last school year.

The rate of employment of Muslims in the public sector and in state-owned industries

and corporations is much lower than the Muslim percentage of the population. InXanthi, where Muslims hold seats on the town council, there are no Muslims among


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During the January 1994 visit of a group of Turkish parliamentarians to westernThrace, a group of Christian extremists hurled stones at the bus in which thedelegation was traveling. There were no injuries, and no arrests were made.

Religious Minorities

Several religious denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church, reporteddifficulties in dealing with Greek authorities on a variety of administrative matters.Privileges and legal prerogatives granted the Greek Orthodox Church were notroutinely extended to other recognized religions. Rather, the non-Orthodox must makeseparate and lengthy applications to government authorities on such matters asarranging appointments to meet with Ministry of Education and Religion officials andgaining permission to move places of worship to larger quarters.

Leaders of various non-Orthodox religious groups assert that their members facediscrimination in reaching the senior ranks in government service; furthermore, itappears that only those of the Orthodox faith can become officers in the Greek military. They allege that to avoid this restriction some members of their faiths resortto declaring themselves Orthodox. Senior government officials, when questionedabout such allegations of discrimination, deny that it exists and point out certain

persons not of the Orthodox faith who have successful careers in government service.There appear to be no statistics to support either side.

Teachers who are Jehovah's Witnesses have faced difficulties in gaining or keepingemployment in recent years in public or private schools. As a result of suchdifficulties, six Jehovah's Witnesses have appeals on employment discrimination

pending with the Council of State, some dating back as far as 1989.

Greek law requires that Greek citizens declare their religion on their bilingual identitycards that, if and when issued, would allow Greeks to travel freely within the EUinstead of using passports. The law has caused particular concern among the Catholic

and Jewish religious communities in Greece and abroad and has drawn strongcriticism from the European Parliament. The Government declined in 1994 to acteither to change the law mandating the declaration of religion on the cards or to issuethe new EU cards. Instead, the old Greek identity cards, which normally list religion

but which allow the bearer the option not to do so, are still being issued.Leaders of the Jewish community in Greece have lobbied the Government for severalyears to change five anti-Semitic references in Greek public school textbooks. In 1994the Ministry of Education deleted two of the five passages.


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The Government allowed Turkish Prime Minister Ciller's counselor MustafaKahramanyol to visit Thrace in early June, but denied a visa to the Turkish Director General of Religious Affairs, who wanted to visit a few weeks later.

People with Disabilities

Legislation mandates the hiring of disabled persons in public and private enterprisesemploying more than 50 persons. However, the law is poorly enforced, particularly inthe private sector. The law states that disabled persons should comprise 3 percent of staff in private enterprises. In the civil service, 5 percent of administrative staff and 80

percent of telephone operator positions are reserved for disabled persons. Personswith disabilities have been appointed to important positions in the civil service,including secretary general of the Ministry of Welfare.

The Construction Code mandates physical access for disabled persons to private and public buildings, but again the law is poorly enforced. In the past 2 years, ramps andspecial curbs for the disabled have been constructed on Athens streets and at public

buildings, and sound signals have been installed at some city street crossings. In 1993the Government started replacing old city buses with new ones with stairs speciallydesigned for the disabled; the accessible buses numbered 500 in 1994. The newAthens subway lines under construction will provide full access for the disabled.

Section 6 Worker Rights

a. The Right of Association

The Constitution and subsequent legislation provide for the right of association. Allworkers, with the exception of the military and the police, have the right to form or

join unions.

Approximately 30 percent of Greek workers (nearly 1 million persons) were

organized in unions in 1994. Unions receive most of their funding from a Ministry of Labor organization, the Workers' Hearth, which distributes mandatory contributionsfrom employees and employers. Only the five most powerful public sector unionshave dues-withholding provisions in their contracts, in addition to receiving Workers'Hearth subsidies. Following the recommendation of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Government in 1990 enacted a law ending its financialinvolvement in trade union affairs and the collection of union dues. Strong unionreaction, however, led to new legislation in 1994 which allowed unions to continue toreceive Workers' Hearth funds.


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Over 4,000 unions are grouped into regional and sectoral federations and twoumbrella confederations, one for civil servants and one, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), for private sector employees. Unions are highly politicized,and there are party-affiliated factions within the labor confederations, but day-to-day

operations are not controlled by political parties or the Government. There are norestrictions on who may serve as a union official. Unions maintain a variety of international affiliations and are free to join international associations. Legislation

passed in 1994 mandates a skeleton staff during strikes affecting public services, suchas electricity, transportation, communications, and banking. During strikes in Juneand July, skeleton staffs did not ensure that essential services continued uninterrupted;however, there were no legal repercussions for the unions.

Legal restrictions on strikes include a mandatory period of notice, which is 4 days for

public utilities and 24 hours for the private sector. Public utility companies, state-owned banks, the postal service, Olympic Airways, and the railroads are also requiredto maintain a skeleton staff during strikes.The courts have the power to declare strikes illegal, although such decisions areseldom enforced. Unions complain, however, that this judicial power serves as adeterrent to some of their membership from participating in strikes. In 1994 the courtsdeclared a majority of strikes illegal for a variety of reasons, but no striking workerswere prosecuted. The Government may also declare "civil mobilization" of workers inthe event of danger to national security, life, property, or the social and economic life

of the country. It threatened to do so when air traffic controllers staged a work slowdown in August-September. The ILO Committee of Experts has criticized this

power as violating the standards of ILO Convention 29 on forced labor. TheGovernment resorted to civil mobilization in December 1993 to resolve a bus owners'strike in opposition to government efforts to deprivatize the Athens bus system.

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

Legislation passed in 1955 and amended in 1990 ensured the right to organize and

bargain collectively in the private sector and in public corporations. These rights wererespected in practice. There were no restrictions on collective bargaining for privatesector employees. The Union of Civil Servants negotiates with the Office of theMinister to the Prime Minister.

In 1993 the Government passed a decree setting limits to wage and salary increasesfor public enterprises employees. A complaint to the ILO by the GeneralConfederation of Greek Workers led the ILO Committee of Experts to request that theGovernment stop intervening in the collective bargaining process by setting maximum

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In response to union complaints that most labor disputes ended in compulsoryarbitration, legislative remedies were enacted in 1989 providing for mediation

procedures, with compulsory arbitration as a last resort. The legislation establishing anational mediation, reconciliation, and arbitration organization went into effect in

January 1992 and applies to the public sector and public corporations (the militaryand civil service excluded).Antiunion discrimination is prohibited. The Labor Inspectorate or the courtsinvestigates complaints of discrimination against union members or organizers. Courtrulings have mandated the reinstatement of improperly fired union organizers.

Greece has no export processing zones.

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and the Ministry of Justiceenforces this prohibition.

d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The minimum age for employment in the industrial sector is 15, with higher limits for certain activities. The minimum age is 12 in family businesses, theaters, and thecinema. These age limits are enforced by occasional Labor Inspectorate spot checks

and are generally respected. However, families engaged in agriculture, food service,or merchandising often have younger family members assisting them, at least part-time. Education is free and compulsory for all children through the ninth grade.

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

Collective bargaining between the GSEE and the Employers' Association determinesa nationwide minimum wage. The Ministry of Labor routinely ratifies this minimumwage, which has the force of law and applies to all Greek workers. The minimum

wage ($21 daily and $463 monthly) was sufficient for a decent standard of living for aworker and family.The maximum legal workweek is 40 hours in the private sector and 37 1/2 hours inthe public sector. A law that took effect in 1992 significantly extended legal operatinghours for retail establishments, provided that the average workweek did not exceedthe legal maximum over a period of time. The law provides for at least one 24-hour rest period per week, mandates paid vacation of 1 month per year, and sets limits onovertime.

Legislation provides for minimum standards of occupational health and safety.Although the GSEE characterized health and safety legislation as satisfactory, it


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charged that enforcement, the responsibility of the Labor Inspectorate, wasinadequate. In 1992 the GSEE cited statistics indicating a high number of job-relatedaccidents over the past two decades. Inadequate inspection, failure to enforceregulations, outdated industrial plant and equipment, and poor safety training of

employees contributed to the accident rate. Workers did not have the legal right toremove themselves from situations they believed endangered their health. They didhave the right, however, to lodge a confidential complaint with the Labor Inspectorate. Inspectors had the right to close down machinery or a process for a

period of up to 5 days if they saw safety or health hazards which they believerepresented an imminent danger to the workers.

usds hr report greece 1994

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