Pushbacks persist, investigations remain ineffective
RSA and PRO ASYL submission to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers in A.R.E. v. Greece
Unlawful pushbacks of refugees in Greece remain a systematic and unresolved issue, which the justice system continues to fail to investigate effectively.
One and a half years after the country’s landmark conviction by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of A.R.E. v. Greece, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers is set to examine on Thursday 17 September whether the Greek authorities have taken sufficient measures to put an end to the unlawful practice of pushbacks and to ensure that pushback complaints are effectively investigated by the criminal justice system.
No substantive change has taken place in this period, as we point out in our latest submission to the Committee of Ministers, published today. Incidents of pushbacks continue to be systematically recorded without being properly investigated by the prosecution service, without perpetrators being punished, and without justice being served to the victims. No measures have been proposed by the government to strengthen the independence and effectiveness of criminal investigations.
