Beyond Farmakonisi:
The responsibility of the Greek Coast Guard for human rights violations at sea
The Council of Europe is receiving strong calls to scrutinise structural deficiencies in Greek Coast Guard operations and criminal investigations in its supervision of the execution of the Safi v. Greece judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. This is the judgment which condemned Greece for breaching the right to life and the prohibition of torture in the Farmakonisi shipwreck on 20 January 2014.
Over the past decade, RSA and PRO ASYL have represented refugees denouncing serious breaches of their human rights in the context of Coast Guard operations, including the right to life and the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading. At least four of those are pending before the European Court of Human Rights: Alkhatib v. Greece (Pserimos case); Almukhlas v. Greece (Symi case); Alnassar v. Greece (Rhodes case); and F.M. v. Greece (Agathonisi case).
Against this backdrop, we stress that the violations identified by the Court in the Farmakonisi case are not isolated, contrary to the view expressed by the Greek government before the Council of Europe. They point to systemic deficiencies accounting for broader breaches of the right to life and the prohibition of torture in the general course of Coast Guard operations on border protection and rescue, as well as in the context of criminal investigation of complaints. These issues have re-emerged in the aftermath of the Pylos shipwreck of 14 June 2023 that left 82 people dead and several hundred missing. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has stressed that “the shipwreck of 14 June is unfortunately not an isolated incident” and urged for an effective investigation thereof.
Today, we publish a note shared with the Council of Europe based on an indicative list of cases represented by RSA, concerning human rights breaches stemming from deficiencies and delays in rescue operations, interception operations during attempted push backs, treatment of shipwreck survivors and non-registration of missing persons.
Drawing on this analysis of cases legally represented by our organisations, we urge the Council of Europe to upgrade the examination status of the Safi case from “standard” to “enhanced supervision”. This would acknowledge that the human rights violations found in Safi are systemic issues in the course of Coast Guard operations and investigations of ill-treatment, and would ensure more rigorous scrutiny of the country’s compliance with its obligations.
RSA and PRO ASYL have recommended the Council of Europe to monitor the following elements in its supervision of the execution of the Safi judgment regarding the case of the Farmakonisi shipwreck:
Protecting the right to life
- Measures to update the regulatory framework governing Coast Guard operations in the area of border protection and search and rescue in full compliance with current standards e.g. Regulation 656/2014 and the Asylum Procedures Directive. Such a revision is necessary to ensure correct and sufficient guidance on how to assess distress phases, to safeguard the life and integrity of third parties on board in the management of incidents concerning refugees at sea, and to guarantee access to the asylum procedure.
- Measures to ensure sufficient and adequate interpretation services to enable effective communication of interested parties with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (EKSED), the 112 telephone line and involved Coast Guard vessels.
- Measures to ensure that all Coast Guard operations and vessel courses all fully audio- and video-recorded, with a view to improving coordination, prevention of instances of ill-treatment and effective investigation of complaints.
- Measures to immediately cease practices of the Greek authorities which endanger human lives at sea e.g. unreasonable use of firearms, push backs and abandonment of people on life-rafts.
Effectively investigating Coast Guard acts and omissions
- Measures to ensure that the competent body to prosecute Coast Guard officers, the Prosecutor of the Naval Court of Piraeus, immediately intervenes in cases involving the Coast Guard and that preliminary interrogations in such cases are not be conducted by Coast Guard officers.
- Measures to ensure that witness testimonies on incidents at sea are collected from all passengers, otherwise a substantial number, with an adequate, certified and independent interpreter in a language they understand.
- Measures to ensure that inspections, expert reports and forensic reports are independent and reliable in line with international standards.
- Measures to ensure that digital evidence, where available, is used in the criminal investigation of incidents.
Treating shipwreck survivors with dignity
- Measures to ensure that survivors of shipwrecks are immediately referred to adequate living conditions and support services and are not detained. This includes de facto deprivation of liberty in the context of reception and identification procedures.
- Measures to ensure immediate registration of missing persons, immediate collection DNA samples and issuance of certificate of missing persons to relatives.
