ECRI's 6th report on Greece been published
The Council of Europe Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published the 6th country report on Greece on 22 September.
The 6th country report prepared by ECRI after its visit to Greece in November 2021 includes the developments in Greece until last March. The report examines Greece under the three common headings of “effective equality and access to rights”, “hate speech and hate-based violence” and “cohesion and participation” that apply to all member states.
Noting that the national action plan against racism and intolerance adopted by Greece in 2020 is a positive step, ECRI expresses its concerns about the ongoing inequalities and racism in policing, noting that its recommendation in the previous report published in 2014 has been partially implemented.
It is noted that the ECRI report states that the Ombudsman, the equality body in Greece, still lacks the competence to provide legal representation to victims of discrimination or intolerance, pursue strategic cases or bring cases to court.
The report notes that, according to statistics collected by the Greek Police, there were 51 cases of hate speech in 2020, of which 34 occurred online, and that very little systematic data collection on hate speech in Greece is possible.
ECRI recommends Greece establish a comprehensive monitoring system for cases of hate speech, including online, accompanied by public awareness campaigns.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) actively participated in the preparation process of the 6th Greece country report in 2021. In addition, some minority non-governmental organizations from Western Thrace provided written information to ECRI about the developments in Western Thrace.
ABTTF, which made a written notification to ECRI about discrimination, racism and hate speech against the Western Thrace Turkish community in Greece, attended the meeting held with non-governmental organizations in Athens as part of ECRI's visit to Greece in November 2021.
ABTTF made a presentation on the current and chronic problems of Western Thrace Turkish society under the titles of denial of Turkish identity, freedom of association, freedom of religion, education and hate speech/hate-based attacks.
