PETITION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OF DETAINEES
H ΕΝΩΣΗ ΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ με τη κατωτέρω ΑΝΑΦΟΡΑ-ΚΑΤΑΓΓΕΛΙΑ προσέφυγε στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο ζητώντας να καταδικαστεί η Ελλάδα διότι τα ελληνικά ποινικά δικαστήρια, αδιαφορούν και παραβιάζουν τις διατάξεις της Ευρωπαϊκής Σύμβασης για τα Δικαιώματα του Ανθρώπου (ΕΣΔΑ) και δεν εφαρμόζουν την Απόφαση-Πλαίσιο 2004/757/ΔΕΥ (2004/757/JHA) του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης, η οποία αποτελεί αναπόσπαστο μέρος του εσωτερικού ελληνικού δικαίου και υπερισχύει από κάθε άλλη αντίθετη διάταξη νόμου ( σύμφωνα με το άρθρο 28, παρ. 1 του Συντάγματος και τις αποφάσεις του Αρείου Πάγου).
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P E T I T I O N
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
ON BEHALF OF DETAINEES IN GREEK PRISONS
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14 November 2008
TO THE HONORABLE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT:
We, the undersigned (through power of attorney) seven hundred (700) citizens of the European Union and now incarcerated in Greek Prisons, sentenced to imprisonment by Greek Courts, and voicing the concern of over twelve thousands (12,000) detainees in total, request the European Parliament:
1. To activate the procedure of article 226 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, namely, to set up a temporary Committee of Inquiry to investigate Greece’s infringements of EU Law, by failing to honour:
a. The Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA;
b. The Council Resolutions (73)5, (76)2, (76)10;
c. The UN General Assembly Decision A/Res/45/111;
2. To intervene immediately with a view toward implementing temporary protective measures as deemed necessary, in order to avert irreparable harm to all persons in Greek prisons by enforcing:
a. Council of Europe recommendations Rec(2006)2, Rec(2003)22, Rec R(2000)22 and Rec R(99)22;
b. The European Parliament, Council and Commission common decision 2007/C 303/01;
3. To take action with a view toward discontinuing Greece’s impunity while abusing Human Rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons incarcerated in Greek prisons;
4. To bring the matter before the European Court of Justice and seek any necessary corrective and compensatory action in favour of all detainees in Greek prisons;
5. To take steps for the indemnification of detainees in Greek prisons by the European Union for harm caused to us by a Member State and its institutions in the performance of their duties.
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I. INTRODUCTION
Through this petition, based on articles 21 and 194 of the European Community Treaty (EC Treaty) and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, we wish to bring to the attention of the European Parliament Greece’s blatant disregard of EU policy regarding harmonisation of Criminal Law and integration of European Law into domestic Law. In doing so, we are joining many other voices of protest that are raised these days against Greece, deploring the way drug-related offenses are adjudicated and punished.
Further, we wish to highlight Greece’s failure to implement Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, which lays down the maximal penalties in the field of illicit drug trafficking. Greece, as a member of the Schengen group of countries, should have harmonized her criminal legislation with such a Framework Decision promptly and efficiently, in order to avoid any risk for harassment of citizens of other Member States, while visiting Greece.
Moreover, we wish to emphasize the fact that Greece continues to disregard the EU minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners and has done so up to now without being subjected to any measures, let alone punitive action.
It should be noted that Greece’s obligation to implement Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA is also laid down in article 7 of the Shengen agreement (Council’s decision 1999/436/EC), regarding the applicable measures for the free movement of persons: Greece had the obligation to harmonize, where necessary, her laws, regulations and administrative provisions, as required by the Council.
We seek the urgent intervention of the European Parliament for the purpose of discontinuing the unduly severe sentences that are meted by the Greek Courts in the name of zero tolerance. Such harsh sentences often amount to abuses of the defendants’ Human Rights and fundamental freedoms or entail such abuses in the process. We have now reached a situation where less than 1% of all petitions for parole are granted in drug-related cases, thus rendering Greece into an endless incarceration centre for drug-offenders within the European Union.
It has been already decided that Greek prisoners will go on hunger strike (at the writing moment, the strike has already commenced) and abstain from their work duties in order to protest against disproportionately heavy sentences, including life imprisonment, for offenses related to illicit drugs (in violation of the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA), as well as the cruel, inhuman and degrating treatment that they suffer due to overcrowding and generally harsh conditions (attachment 5).
Greek Judges are obliged to apply the provisions of Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA in their rulings because, according to Article 28, paragraph 1, of the Greek Constitution, any EU Decision and Directive is considered as part of Greek Law and prevails over other domestic legislation in case of conflict.
In this respect, by failing to integrate into her national legal system the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, which stipulates the maximal penalties in the field of drug-related offenses and encapsulates the EU strategy for Criminal Law harmonization the Member States for the period 2005-2012, Greece has violated the following:
1. Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union;
2. Articles 10 and 249 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;
3. Articles 5, 6, 8 and 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
In this context, a very relevant matter to be brought into the attention of the European Parliament is the following:
The Greek Judiciary has been plagued by a series of serious scandals, highlighted in both the national and international media. While legal proceedings have been initiated in order to punish the perpetrators of acts of corruption, ironically, the steps taken have had an adverse effect on the performance of Greek Judges, ultimately, weakening rather than strengthening the Rule of Law. Thus, in order to dispel any suspicion that they have been bribed themselves in drug-related cases, many Judges opt for utterly severe sentences, often on flimsy grounds; it is as if they would rather sentence than acquit an accused, if the charges relate to drug use or trafficking.
The consequence has been the emergence of a new draconian jurisprudence in the field of drug Law, which has rendered Greek Judges a serious hazard to Greek society. They were often perceived as a hazard due to the low quality and often whimsical character of their judicial outputs, and the frequency of bribery and undue influence in the performance of their duties, not to mention the contraventions in the area of due process; now they are also a hazard because of their newly invented draconization of drug Law.
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II. STATEMENT OF FACTS
This petition is based on fact-finding from the following sources, as substantiated in the annexes:
1. Important and valuable information collected from many reliable sources;
2. Recent Appellate Court decisions;
3. Interviews with officials, such as, Judges of the Greek Supreme Court, high ranking Prosecutors, Law Enforcement agents and other authorities, prominent lawyers, jurists and criminologists, academic scholars and domestic media journalists;
4. Interviews with prisoners and their defense lawyers;
5. The findings of extensive surveys carried out by several professionals, following the unjust incarceration of thousands of defendants, who received draconian penalties, even life imprisonment, for drug-related offenses (notwithstanding the applicable provisions of the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA and the articles 5, 6, 8 and 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms).
The issues raised in this petition are of great concern to the Greek public; in particular, prevention and reduction of drug abuse and drug addiction is of the utmost importance. Greek society as, indeed, any other European society should deal with drug-related problems not in isolation but in co-operation with others and harmonisation of strategy and action across State borders. These are nowadays widely recognized as international concerns and should be dealt as such; unilateral action by one State alone is unlikely to yield any results, in the best case, the problem merely moves across the border. In other words, any anti-drug action has to be coordinated with other States concerned and it has to be joint and harmonized.
As such, the tools in the struggle against drugs are always similar: demand and supply reduction strategies, treatment of addicted users, and prosecution of offenders. But the modalities and methodologies of how to use these tools need to be harmonized if results are to be achieved.
Obviously, the Law is an indispensable tool in the struggle against drugs. However, the legal system should not be used in a way that defeats the purpose.
First and foremost, if successful prosecution of offenses is to contribute to less drug trafficking and less social evil, it has to aim at the big fish rather than the small victims of such big fish. And then, the legal system should not reproduce drug abuse and addiction by filling the prisons (which are said to be the best training venues, leading to more drug-related criminality), thus strengthening and fueling drug trafficking. It is a well-known fact that indiscriminate incarceration of drug users, particularly young men, results in more drug addiction and fuels a vicious cycle. The legal system should rather make extensive use of sanctions which include a rehabilitating and therapeutic element for every offender except the “big fish” mentioned above and other malicious traffickers.
Instead of tuning to this, utterly desirable, internationally established and highly recommended course of action (in fact, a best practice), the Greek Judiciary has followed the path of severe and excessive repression, amounting at times to violation of important legal principles and, indeed, defeating the purpose.
As is amply demonstrated in the annexed supporting documentation,, there is indisputable evidence to the effect that Greece has violated EU Law in this respect, and that the Judiciary has abused the defendants’ Human Rights.
It goes without saying that the Greek judicial system is there to provide justice to all citizens, fairly and indiscriminately. This includes drug addicts, drug users and all kinds of defendants in drug cases. By meting unfairly severe penalties, such as life imprisonment, based on allegations and accusations without evidence beyond reasonable doubt for illicit drug trafficking and drug use, Justice is not served and, definitely, not done.
A recent report (attachment 1) describing Human Rights malpractices and abuses in Greece during 2007 (the U.S. Department of State report, dated 11 March 2008), is enclosed herewith, in support of this petition. We request the European Parliament to take a stance on the issues raised in this report; it is a matter of enormous gravity and a real concern to the public interest.
At present, there is an ongoing criminal investigation related to corruption scandals in the Judiciary. The investigation has been going on for more than five years. Several Judges, lawyers and others have been charged for trial-fixing, bribery, money-laundering, abuse of power, dereliction of duty, attempted extortion and other corruption-related offenses. Quite a number of corrupt Judges were found to be members of various organized groups for trial-fixing: “protected” by the principle of independence of the Judiciary, these Judges received bribes for trial-fixing.
This was the greatest scandal to ever hit the independent judicial system of Greece. Today, some corrupt Judges have already been imprisoned and many others have been dismissed from the Judiciary; in the meantime, the investigation continues. Former Minister of Justice, Anastasios Papaligouras, in his recent book with the title «State of Law», published in 2007, (attachment 2), states: «98 Judges have been dismissed or are under investigation; the first Court decision for a corrupt Judge was severe, 25 years of imprisonment; the cleansing of the Greek Judiciary will continue until all the corrupt Judges are dismissed». Many other politicians made similar statements – thus creating a hostile environment against anybody who happened to be accused for an offense. In particular, drug-related offenses had to be dealt with in a draconian manner, if any suspicion of trial-fixing were to be dispelled.
For the past five years, the great publicity in Greek and international media with thousands of reports on the scandal and their severe criticism against the Greek Judiciary, the public scrutiny of the administration of Justice, the assaults on Justice from political parties, and the Supreme Court delirium asking for a far-reaching investigation to reveal corrupt officials in the Judiciary, have intimated Judges, who have responded with prejudice and bias against defendants.
In other words, the action taken to fight this huge scandal had an unforeseen yet clearly undesirable side effect: it gave rise to thousands of unfair trials, particularly against those accused with allegations for illicit drug trafficking and drug abuse. The Appellate Court decisions have been excessively severe, because the Judges, being influenced by the media and fearing that they might be accused for trial-fixing or bribery, if their decisions were lenient, and, consequently, be dismissed by the Supreme Court, opted for severe and harsh punishments. This happened, above all, in drug-related offenses, where severity was more opportune and could always be “justified” as part of the fight against a social evil.
The aftermath of a scandal of such astounding proportions was thousands of unfair trials, the bulk of which was in the area of drug-related offenses. This amounts to direct violation of Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
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III. THE LAW
Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, a third-pillar decision of the European Council, pertains to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. It aims at ensuring a high level of health protection, well-being and social cohesion in the EU countries by complementing the efforts of Member States to prevent and reduce drug use and addiction, and fight drug trafficking through effective cooperation, embedded in a joint approach by the Member States.
In fact, this Framework Decision is the backbone and the primary instrument of the intended integration and harmonization of Criminal Law in the twenty-seven Member States. It lays down the provisions on the constituent elements of criminal offenses in the field of illicit drug abuse and trafficking, and imposes the obligation on Member States to impose penalties within a range from a certain minimum to a maximum; naturally, this should be uniform throughout EU.
In addition, the Framework Decision has been embedded in the Decision 1150/2007/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 September 2007. This decision establishes the Specific Programme «Drug Prevention and Information» as part of the General Programme, Fundamental Rights and Justice for the period 2007-2013.
We respectfully submit that the alleged malpractices amount to serious violations of European Law and the Law of Human Rights, as follows:
A. Greece has failed to implement the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA and to integrate the same into the Greek legal system, even though this Framework Decision, which is the very EU instrument to combat illicit drug trafficking and to promote integration and harmonization of Criminal Law in twenty-seven Member States is in force since 25 October 2004 and Greece had the obligation to take the necessary steps to comply with its provisions by 12 May 2006. This amounts to direct violation of:
1. Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union (the article refers to the prevention of crime, organized, or otherwise, as a means of achieving the Union’s objective of providing citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and fair justice);
2. Article 10 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (Member States shall take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular, to ensure fulfillment of the obligations arising out of this Treaty or resulting from action taken by the institutions of the Community. They shall facilitate the achievement of the Community’s tasks. They shall abstain from any measure which could jeopardize the attainment of the objectives of this Treaty);
3. Article 249 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (the decisions made by the Council shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed);
4. Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), 8 (right to respect for private and family life,) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination), of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
B. Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA is in force througout the EU, including Greece, since 25 October 2004. However, Greece has not integrated it in her legal system, albeit the deadline of 12 May 2006 has lapsed. Nevertheless, according to Article 28, paragraph 1, of the Greek Constitution, this Council Framework Decision is part of the Greek legislation and prevails of any other Greek Law in case of conflict. Hence, the Greek Judges are obliged to apply its provisions in their Court rulings. However, the Greek Judges seem to ignore, if not deny, their double role as both domestic and EU Judges. In this spirit they also seem to ignore, if not deny, their obligation to apply the provisions of the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, even if these provisions are in conflict with existing domestic legislation. This amounts to total disregard and/or direct violation of:
1. All the Articles referred to in bullets 1), 2), 3) and 4) under section A (see above);
2. European Court of Justice, case C-105/03 (Tribunale Di Firenze vs. Maria Pupino);
3. European Court of Justice (ECJ) case 106/77 (the principle of precedence of Community Law and the directly applicable measures of the EU institutions implies that that those provisions and measures render automatically inapplicable any conflicting provisions of national Law and even preclude the valid adoption of new national legislative measures to the extent to which they would be incompatible with community provisions);
4. European Court of Justice, case 33/76 (Rewe);
5. European Court of Justice, case 6/64 (Costa vs ENEL);
6. European Court of Justice, cases 28-30/62 (Da Costa).
C. The huge publicity in Greek and international media with innumerable reports about the scandal of the corrupt Judges, as per above, and the extensive enquiry of the Supreme Court to discover groups of corrupt Judges, gave rise to thousands of unfair trials (attachment 3). Many a defendant had to face mere allegations on illicit drug trafficking and drug use, and was judged by hostile Judges, who were filled with prejudice, bias and fear that a lenient judgment could cause their dismissal. In other words, the scandal and the punishment of the corrupt Judges, which has not yet ended, has also influenced honest Judges and resulted in more bias, arbitrariness and disregard for Human Rights.
Ultimately, the side effect was to reduce public confidence in the Judiciary. This means that the media have influenced the Judges so that their Court rulings became far too severe, particularly for drug trafficking and drug use. Judges have sentenced people, even to life imprisonment, mostly without real evidence, but only with police allegations, just to prove that they are not corrupt Judges, in direct violation of:
1. The provisions of Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA;
2. Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), 8 (right to respect for private and family life,) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination), of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
3. The basic tenets of Law, which are the very cornerstones of European civilization, for example, the principle in dubio pro reo (presumption of innocence), the principle audiatur et altera pars, the principle of proportionality or the principle of equality of weapons.
D. Greek Judges discriminate against defendants for drug-related offenses and particularly drug users, sentencing them sweepingly as if they were all Latin America cartel-styled drug dealers, even though the reality and the truth could not be more different. (Given the marked preference of Greek Law Enforcement and the Judiciary for “small” rather than “big fish”, it is often the victims of transnational organised criminals that are sentenced, and not the real criminals themselves). Above all, the Appellate Court Judges always see drug addicts and users as pottential drug dealers, and instead of transfering them to hospitals to be treated, they uncritically take police allegations for granted, often without evidence that can stand trial.
It is as if a special category of people had to be eliminated, because they are believed to be a serious menace to society; this reminds us of the dark ages, when witches were burn alive, because they were thought to be evil. That is the scale of Judges’ disregard for the defendants’ Human Rights; defendants for drug-related offenses are considered as second class citizens and ipso jure evil.
There are hundreds of cases of condemned defendants for drug-related offenses on the basis of identical police allegations, such as: «when the defendant was under surveilance, he had met, with unknown intentions, unknown people, who were suspected for drug use». Police would hardly present any real evidence, for example, any chemical identification of illicit substances, or concrete and measured quantity of (seized?) drugs, that presumably changed hands. This methodology to sentence on the bases of police allegations only, which are accepted by the Greek Judges without corroborating evidence, obviously amounts to serious abuse of the defendants’ Human Rights, in particular, their right to a fair trial.
Another aspect of discrimination against defendants for drug-related offenses is the fact that, according to the Greek Law and established practices, any person sent to prison serves 3/5 of the sentence and always receives parole before completing his/her sentence. However, prisoners sentenced for drug-related offenses have to serve 4/5 of their sentence and they never receive parole.
All the above are in direct violation of:
1. Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), 8 (right to respect for private and family life,) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
2. Articles 7 (nullum crimen nulla poena sine lege - no punishment without law) and14 (freedom from discrimination), of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
E. The cruel, inhuman and degrating treatment for prisoners in Greek prisons due to overcrowding and harsh conditions is a well-known fact. In August 2007, the Ministry of Justice reported that the total prison population was 10,772, while the official capacity of the prison system was 6,019. The proof to the harsh conditions in prisons is the fact that 377 people died in Greek prisons, in the past ten years. In 2007 died 52 prisoners (attachment 4 and 6). This amounts to direct violations of:
1. Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 8 (right to respect for private and family life,) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
2. In the cases of death of prisoners, article 2 (right to life) of the same Convention.
All allegations and findings can be substantiated by real facts, official documents, testimonies, appellate Court decisions, studies and legal opinions of Athens Bar Association prominent lawyers.
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IV. REQUEST FOR URGENT PROTECTIVE MEASURES TO AVERT "IRREPARABLE HARM"
Protective orders and/or temporary injunctions are warranted when an individuals’ liberty or her or his life is at risk; in particular, such measures are justified where the protection of a citizen’s Human Rights and fundamental freedoms is at stake.
In determining the meaning of “irreparable harm”, the European Parliament should take into consideration not only its previous decisions on precautionary measures, but also the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on ordering provisional measures.
In the case at hands, protective measures should be warranted because we, the detainees, face a serious threat to our physical, psychological and moral integrity.
When seeking protective orders, there is usually a need to identify individually the people who are in danger of suffering irreparable harm. However, this does not always have to be the case. In this particular case, it is not required that each individual detainee be identified since we form part of organized communities (prisons), located in determined geographical places, whose members could be identified and individualized and who, due to our membership in such community (prison), face a similar risk of suffering acts of aggression against our personal integrity and lives.
Thus, the community of prisoners, serving sentences for drug-related offenses, can be dealt with collectively. In the present case, all the detainees are located in determined geographical places and, by virtue of our detention, the Greek Judiciary knows our identities. In addition, we are all in a situation of similar risk of continued injury, as a consequence of continued violation of our fundamental rights. Protective orders may, therefore, be issued for us, taken as a group.
This is a matter of exceptional gravity, considering Greece’s (hitherto) impunity and the refusal of the Greek Ministry of Justice to embed the following EU standards, objectives and best practices into the national judicial system:
1. The pronounced EU objective to establish common principles regarding the enforcement of custodial sentences, in the interest of enhanced international judicial co-operation;
2. The best practice of conditional release as one of the most effective and constructive means of preventing recidivism and promoting rehabilitation, provided that the prisoner receives planned, assisted and supervised reintegration into the community;
3. The often reiterated findings of relevant research that detention often has adverse effects and fails to rehabilitate offenders;
4. The consideration that financial cost of imprisonment places a severe burden on society;
5. The desirability to reduce the length of prison sentences as much as possible and that conditional release before the full sentence has been served is an important means to that end.
Also, Greece has failed to implement into her legal system the following Council resolutions on prisoners:
1. Resolution (76)10, on certain alternative penal measures to imprisonment;
2. Resolution (76)2, on the treatment of long-term prisoners.
Additionally, Greece has failed to enforce all the provisions of the following Council of Europe recommendations on prisoners:
1. Rec(2006)2, on the European Prison Rules;
2. Rec(2003)22, on conditional release (parole);
3. Rec(2000)22, on improving the implementation of the European Rules on community sanctions and measures;
4. Rec No. R(99)22, concerning prison overcrowding and prison population inflation;
5. Rec No. R(92)17, concerning consistency in sentencing;
6. Rec No. R(89)12 on education in prison.
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IV. THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IS REQUESTED TO INITIATE ACTION TO ASSIST ALL INHABITANTS OF GREEK PRISONS
We, as citizens of the EU, respectfully seek the European Parliament’s intervention.
We are kindly asking you to take the necessary steps with a view toward achieving a better protection of our rights in Greece, a better protection of our personal integrity, security of person and our right to a fair trial. We demand from Greece to respect the values on which the EU was founded, as outlined in Article 1-2 of the Treaty of Lisbon, namely: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the Rule of Law and respect for Human Rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
In particular, we request the European Parliament:
1. To activate the procedure of Article 226 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU against Member State Greece for infringement of EU Law, by failing to implement:
· The Council Framework decision 2004/757/JHA, which lays down the provisions for maximal penalties for drug-related offenses and constitutes the EU strategy for the integration and harmonization of Criminal Law for the period 2005-2012; it is noted that under Article 249 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC Treaty), this Council Framework Decision is binding for all Member States;
· The Council resolution (73)5, on the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners;
· The Council resolution (76)2, on the treatment of long-term prisoners;
· The Council resolution (76)10, on alternative punitive measures other than imprisonment (community service).
2. To intervene immediately and take the necessary steps for the introduction of protective measures in order to avert irreparable harm to all detainees in Greek prisons, and the immediate enforcement of:
· The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission common decision 2007/C 303/01, on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU;
· The Council’s recommendations:
· Rec(2006)2,on the European prisons,
· Rec(2003)22, on conditional release (parole)
· Rec R(2000)22, on improving the implementation of the European rules on community sanctions and measures, and
· Rec R(99)22, on prison overcrowding and prison population inflation,
· Rec No. R(92)17, concerning consistency in sentencing;
· Rec No. R(89)12 on education in prison;
· The UN General Assembly decision A/RES/45/111, concerning the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
3. To stop Greece’s impunity for continuously abusing the Human Rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons detained in Greek prisons, in violation of the decision 2007/C 303/01;
4. To request the EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights, which has been set up by the European Commission, to monitor the situation of fundamental rights in the prisons of Greece, on the basis of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the International Human Rights Law;
5. To bring this matter before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and take any necessary action to seek and achieve Greek compliance with applicable European Law, under article 288 of the EC Treaty, and satisfactory remedy for each prisoner in Greece, who has been judged by the Greek Courts in violation of the Council Framework decision 2004/757/JHA;
6. Finally, we request the European Union to indemnify all detainees of the Greek prisons, for damages to them and to their families caused by the Member State of Greece, due to all above violations of the Law.
Respectfully submitted and signed by 700 prisoners, via powers of attorney, which are attached.
Athens, the same date as above
Signature of authorised proxy:
Attachments:
1. U.S. Department of State report, describing Human Rights malpractices and abuses in Greece for 2007.
2. Former Greek Minister of Justice statements about corrupt judges.
3. Newspaper articles on the corrupt judges.
4. Newspaper article for prisoners’ deaths in Greek prisons.
5. Various local newspaper articles on prisoners’ hunger strike in Greek prisons.
6. Typical letter, in Greek, from a detainee in Trikala prison describing the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment for prisoners, due to overcrowding and harsh conditions.
7. List with the names of Seven hundred (700) prisoners that provided powers of attorney.
H ΕΝΩΣΗ ΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ με τη κατωτέρω ΑΝΑΦΟΡΑ-ΚΑΤΑΓΓΕΛΙΑ προσέφυγε στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο ζητώντας να καταδικαστεί η Ελλάδα διότι τα ελληνικά ποινικά δικαστήρια, αδιαφορούν και παραβιάζουν τις διατάξεις της Ευρωπαϊκής Σύμβασης για τα Δικαιώματα του Ανθρώπου (ΕΣΔΑ) και δεν εφαρμόζουν την Απόφαση-Πλαίσιο 2004/757/ΔΕΥ (2004/757/JHA) του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης, η οποία αποτελεί αναπόσπαστο μέρος του εσωτερικού ελληνικού δικαίου και υπερισχύει από κάθε άλλη αντίθετη διάταξη νόμου ( σύμφωνα με το άρθρο 28, παρ. 1 του Συντάγματος και τις αποφάσεις του Αρείου Πάγου).
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P E T I T I O N
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
ON BEHALF OF DETAINEES IN GREEK PRISONS
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14 November 2008
TO THE HONORABLE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT:
We, the undersigned (through power of attorney) seven hundred (700) citizens of the European Union and now incarcerated in Greek Prisons, sentenced to imprisonment by Greek Courts, and voicing the concern of over twelve thousands (12,000) detainees in total, request the European Parliament:
1. To activate the procedure of article 226 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, namely, to set up a temporary Committee of Inquiry to investigate Greece’s infringements of EU Law, by failing to honour:
a. The Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA;
b. The Council Resolutions (73)5, (76)2, (76)10;
c. The UN General Assembly Decision A/Res/45/111;
2. To intervene immediately with a view toward implementing temporary protective measures as deemed necessary, in order to avert irreparable harm to all persons in Greek prisons by enforcing:
a. Council of Europe recommendations Rec(2006)2, Rec(2003)22, Rec R(2000)22 and Rec R(99)22;
b. The European Parliament, Council and Commission common decision 2007/C 303/01;
3. To take action with a view toward discontinuing Greece’s impunity while abusing Human Rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons incarcerated in Greek prisons;
4. To bring the matter before the European Court of Justice and seek any necessary corrective and compensatory action in favour of all detainees in Greek prisons;
5. To take steps for the indemnification of detainees in Greek prisons by the European Union for harm caused to us by a Member State and its institutions in the performance of their duties.
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I. INTRODUCTION
Through this petition, based on articles 21 and 194 of the European Community Treaty (EC Treaty) and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, we wish to bring to the attention of the European Parliament Greece’s blatant disregard of EU policy regarding harmonisation of Criminal Law and integration of European Law into domestic Law. In doing so, we are joining many other voices of protest that are raised these days against Greece, deploring the way drug-related offenses are adjudicated and punished.
Further, we wish to highlight Greece’s failure to implement Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, which lays down the maximal penalties in the field of illicit drug trafficking. Greece, as a member of the Schengen group of countries, should have harmonized her criminal legislation with such a Framework Decision promptly and efficiently, in order to avoid any risk for harassment of citizens of other Member States, while visiting Greece.
Moreover, we wish to emphasize the fact that Greece continues to disregard the EU minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners and has done so up to now without being subjected to any measures, let alone punitive action.
It should be noted that Greece’s obligation to implement Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA is also laid down in article 7 of the Shengen agreement (Council’s decision 1999/436/EC), regarding the applicable measures for the free movement of persons: Greece had the obligation to harmonize, where necessary, her laws, regulations and administrative provisions, as required by the Council.
We seek the urgent intervention of the European Parliament for the purpose of discontinuing the unduly severe sentences that are meted by the Greek Courts in the name of zero tolerance. Such harsh sentences often amount to abuses of the defendants’ Human Rights and fundamental freedoms or entail such abuses in the process. We have now reached a situation where less than 1% of all petitions for parole are granted in drug-related cases, thus rendering Greece into an endless incarceration centre for drug-offenders within the European Union.
It has been already decided that Greek prisoners will go on hunger strike (at the writing moment, the strike has already commenced) and abstain from their work duties in order to protest against disproportionately heavy sentences, including life imprisonment, for offenses related to illicit drugs (in violation of the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA), as well as the cruel, inhuman and degrating treatment that they suffer due to overcrowding and generally harsh conditions (attachment 5).
Greek Judges are obliged to apply the provisions of Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA in their rulings because, according to Article 28, paragraph 1, of the Greek Constitution, any EU Decision and Directive is considered as part of Greek Law and prevails over other domestic legislation in case of conflict.
In this respect, by failing to integrate into her national legal system the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, which stipulates the maximal penalties in the field of drug-related offenses and encapsulates the EU strategy for Criminal Law harmonization the Member States for the period 2005-2012, Greece has violated the following:
1. Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union;
2. Articles 10 and 249 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;
3. Articles 5, 6, 8 and 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
In this context, a very relevant matter to be brought into the attention of the European Parliament is the following:
The Greek Judiciary has been plagued by a series of serious scandals, highlighted in both the national and international media. While legal proceedings have been initiated in order to punish the perpetrators of acts of corruption, ironically, the steps taken have had an adverse effect on the performance of Greek Judges, ultimately, weakening rather than strengthening the Rule of Law. Thus, in order to dispel any suspicion that they have been bribed themselves in drug-related cases, many Judges opt for utterly severe sentences, often on flimsy grounds; it is as if they would rather sentence than acquit an accused, if the charges relate to drug use or trafficking.
The consequence has been the emergence of a new draconian jurisprudence in the field of drug Law, which has rendered Greek Judges a serious hazard to Greek society. They were often perceived as a hazard due to the low quality and often whimsical character of their judicial outputs, and the frequency of bribery and undue influence in the performance of their duties, not to mention the contraventions in the area of due process; now they are also a hazard because of their newly invented draconization of drug Law.
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II. STATEMENT OF FACTS
This petition is based on fact-finding from the following sources, as substantiated in the annexes:
1. Important and valuable information collected from many reliable sources;
2. Recent Appellate Court decisions;
3. Interviews with officials, such as, Judges of the Greek Supreme Court, high ranking Prosecutors, Law Enforcement agents and other authorities, prominent lawyers, jurists and criminologists, academic scholars and domestic media journalists;
4. Interviews with prisoners and their defense lawyers;
5. The findings of extensive surveys carried out by several professionals, following the unjust incarceration of thousands of defendants, who received draconian penalties, even life imprisonment, for drug-related offenses (notwithstanding the applicable provisions of the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA and the articles 5, 6, 8 and 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms).
The issues raised in this petition are of great concern to the Greek public; in particular, prevention and reduction of drug abuse and drug addiction is of the utmost importance. Greek society as, indeed, any other European society should deal with drug-related problems not in isolation but in co-operation with others and harmonisation of strategy and action across State borders. These are nowadays widely recognized as international concerns and should be dealt as such; unilateral action by one State alone is unlikely to yield any results, in the best case, the problem merely moves across the border. In other words, any anti-drug action has to be coordinated with other States concerned and it has to be joint and harmonized.
As such, the tools in the struggle against drugs are always similar: demand and supply reduction strategies, treatment of addicted users, and prosecution of offenders. But the modalities and methodologies of how to use these tools need to be harmonized if results are to be achieved.
Obviously, the Law is an indispensable tool in the struggle against drugs. However, the legal system should not be used in a way that defeats the purpose.
First and foremost, if successful prosecution of offenses is to contribute to less drug trafficking and less social evil, it has to aim at the big fish rather than the small victims of such big fish. And then, the legal system should not reproduce drug abuse and addiction by filling the prisons (which are said to be the best training venues, leading to more drug-related criminality), thus strengthening and fueling drug trafficking. It is a well-known fact that indiscriminate incarceration of drug users, particularly young men, results in more drug addiction and fuels a vicious cycle. The legal system should rather make extensive use of sanctions which include a rehabilitating and therapeutic element for every offender except the “big fish” mentioned above and other malicious traffickers.
Instead of tuning to this, utterly desirable, internationally established and highly recommended course of action (in fact, a best practice), the Greek Judiciary has followed the path of severe and excessive repression, amounting at times to violation of important legal principles and, indeed, defeating the purpose.
As is amply demonstrated in the annexed supporting documentation,, there is indisputable evidence to the effect that Greece has violated EU Law in this respect, and that the Judiciary has abused the defendants’ Human Rights.
It goes without saying that the Greek judicial system is there to provide justice to all citizens, fairly and indiscriminately. This includes drug addicts, drug users and all kinds of defendants in drug cases. By meting unfairly severe penalties, such as life imprisonment, based on allegations and accusations without evidence beyond reasonable doubt for illicit drug trafficking and drug use, Justice is not served and, definitely, not done.
A recent report (attachment 1) describing Human Rights malpractices and abuses in Greece during 2007 (the U.S. Department of State report, dated 11 March 2008), is enclosed herewith, in support of this petition. We request the European Parliament to take a stance on the issues raised in this report; it is a matter of enormous gravity and a real concern to the public interest.
At present, there is an ongoing criminal investigation related to corruption scandals in the Judiciary. The investigation has been going on for more than five years. Several Judges, lawyers and others have been charged for trial-fixing, bribery, money-laundering, abuse of power, dereliction of duty, attempted extortion and other corruption-related offenses. Quite a number of corrupt Judges were found to be members of various organized groups for trial-fixing: “protected” by the principle of independence of the Judiciary, these Judges received bribes for trial-fixing.
This was the greatest scandal to ever hit the independent judicial system of Greece. Today, some corrupt Judges have already been imprisoned and many others have been dismissed from the Judiciary; in the meantime, the investigation continues. Former Minister of Justice, Anastasios Papaligouras, in his recent book with the title «State of Law», published in 2007, (attachment 2), states: «98 Judges have been dismissed or are under investigation; the first Court decision for a corrupt Judge was severe, 25 years of imprisonment; the cleansing of the Greek Judiciary will continue until all the corrupt Judges are dismissed». Many other politicians made similar statements – thus creating a hostile environment against anybody who happened to be accused for an offense. In particular, drug-related offenses had to be dealt with in a draconian manner, if any suspicion of trial-fixing were to be dispelled.
For the past five years, the great publicity in Greek and international media with thousands of reports on the scandal and their severe criticism against the Greek Judiciary, the public scrutiny of the administration of Justice, the assaults on Justice from political parties, and the Supreme Court delirium asking for a far-reaching investigation to reveal corrupt officials in the Judiciary, have intimated Judges, who have responded with prejudice and bias against defendants.
In other words, the action taken to fight this huge scandal had an unforeseen yet clearly undesirable side effect: it gave rise to thousands of unfair trials, particularly against those accused with allegations for illicit drug trafficking and drug abuse. The Appellate Court decisions have been excessively severe, because the Judges, being influenced by the media and fearing that they might be accused for trial-fixing or bribery, if their decisions were lenient, and, consequently, be dismissed by the Supreme Court, opted for severe and harsh punishments. This happened, above all, in drug-related offenses, where severity was more opportune and could always be “justified” as part of the fight against a social evil.
The aftermath of a scandal of such astounding proportions was thousands of unfair trials, the bulk of which was in the area of drug-related offenses. This amounts to direct violation of Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
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III. THE LAW
Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, a third-pillar decision of the European Council, pertains to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. It aims at ensuring a high level of health protection, well-being and social cohesion in the EU countries by complementing the efforts of Member States to prevent and reduce drug use and addiction, and fight drug trafficking through effective cooperation, embedded in a joint approach by the Member States.
In fact, this Framework Decision is the backbone and the primary instrument of the intended integration and harmonization of Criminal Law in the twenty-seven Member States. It lays down the provisions on the constituent elements of criminal offenses in the field of illicit drug abuse and trafficking, and imposes the obligation on Member States to impose penalties within a range from a certain minimum to a maximum; naturally, this should be uniform throughout EU.
In addition, the Framework Decision has been embedded in the Decision 1150/2007/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 September 2007. This decision establishes the Specific Programme «Drug Prevention and Information» as part of the General Programme, Fundamental Rights and Justice for the period 2007-2013.
We respectfully submit that the alleged malpractices amount to serious violations of European Law and the Law of Human Rights, as follows:
A. Greece has failed to implement the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA and to integrate the same into the Greek legal system, even though this Framework Decision, which is the very EU instrument to combat illicit drug trafficking and to promote integration and harmonization of Criminal Law in twenty-seven Member States is in force since 25 October 2004 and Greece had the obligation to take the necessary steps to comply with its provisions by 12 May 2006. This amounts to direct violation of:
1. Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union (the article refers to the prevention of crime, organized, or otherwise, as a means of achieving the Union’s objective of providing citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and fair justice);
2. Article 10 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (Member States shall take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular, to ensure fulfillment of the obligations arising out of this Treaty or resulting from action taken by the institutions of the Community. They shall facilitate the achievement of the Community’s tasks. They shall abstain from any measure which could jeopardize the attainment of the objectives of this Treaty);
3. Article 249 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (the decisions made by the Council shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed);
4. Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), 8 (right to respect for private and family life,) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination), of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
B. Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA is in force througout the EU, including Greece, since 25 October 2004. However, Greece has not integrated it in her legal system, albeit the deadline of 12 May 2006 has lapsed. Nevertheless, according to Article 28, paragraph 1, of the Greek Constitution, this Council Framework Decision is part of the Greek legislation and prevails of any other Greek Law in case of conflict. Hence, the Greek Judges are obliged to apply its provisions in their Court rulings. However, the Greek Judges seem to ignore, if not deny, their double role as both domestic and EU Judges. In this spirit they also seem to ignore, if not deny, their obligation to apply the provisions of the Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, even if these provisions are in conflict with existing domestic legislation. This amounts to total disregard and/or direct violation of:
1. All the Articles referred to in bullets 1), 2), 3) and 4) under section A (see above);
2. European Court of Justice, case C-105/03 (Tribunale Di Firenze vs. Maria Pupino);
3. European Court of Justice (ECJ) case 106/77 (the principle of precedence of Community Law and the directly applicable measures of the EU institutions implies that that those provisions and measures render automatically inapplicable any conflicting provisions of national Law and even preclude the valid adoption of new national legislative measures to the extent to which they would be incompatible with community provisions);
4. European Court of Justice, case 33/76 (Rewe);
5. European Court of Justice, case 6/64 (Costa vs ENEL);
6. European Court of Justice, cases 28-30/62 (Da Costa).
C. The huge publicity in Greek and international media with innumerable reports about the scandal of the corrupt Judges, as per above, and the extensive enquiry of the Supreme Court to discover groups of corrupt Judges, gave rise to thousands of unfair trials (attachment 3). Many a defendant had to face mere allegations on illicit drug trafficking and drug use, and was judged by hostile Judges, who were filled with prejudice, bias and fear that a lenient judgment could cause their dismissal. In other words, the scandal and the punishment of the corrupt Judges, which has not yet ended, has also influenced honest Judges and resulted in more bias, arbitrariness and disregard for Human Rights.
Ultimately, the side effect was to reduce public confidence in the Judiciary. This means that the media have influenced the Judges so that their Court rulings became far too severe, particularly for drug trafficking and drug use. Judges have sentenced people, even to life imprisonment, mostly without real evidence, but only with police allegations, just to prove that they are not corrupt Judges, in direct violation of:
1. The provisions of Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA;
2. Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), 8 (right to respect for private and family life,) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination), of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
3. The basic tenets of Law, which are the very cornerstones of European civilization, for example, the principle in dubio pro reo (presumption of innocence), the principle audiatur et altera pars, the principle of proportionality or the principle of equality of weapons.
D. Greek Judges discriminate against defendants for drug-related offenses and particularly drug users, sentencing them sweepingly as if they were all Latin America cartel-styled drug dealers, even though the reality and the truth could not be more different. (Given the marked preference of Greek Law Enforcement and the Judiciary for “small” rather than “big fish”, it is often the victims of transnational organised criminals that are sentenced, and not the real criminals themselves). Above all, the Appellate Court Judges always see drug addicts and users as pottential drug dealers, and instead of transfering them to hospitals to be treated, they uncritically take police allegations for granted, often without evidence that can stand trial.
It is as if a special category of people had to be eliminated, because they are believed to be a serious menace to society; this reminds us of the dark ages, when witches were burn alive, because they were thought to be evil. That is the scale of Judges’ disregard for the defendants’ Human Rights; defendants for drug-related offenses are considered as second class citizens and ipso jure evil.
There are hundreds of cases of condemned defendants for drug-related offenses on the basis of identical police allegations, such as: «when the defendant was under surveilance, he had met, with unknown intentions, unknown people, who were suspected for drug use». Police would hardly present any real evidence, for example, any chemical identification of illicit substances, or concrete and measured quantity of (seized?) drugs, that presumably changed hands. This methodology to sentence on the bases of police allegations only, which are accepted by the Greek Judges without corroborating evidence, obviously amounts to serious abuse of the defendants’ Human Rights, in particular, their right to a fair trial.
Another aspect of discrimination against defendants for drug-related offenses is the fact that, according to the Greek Law and established practices, any person sent to prison serves 3/5 of the sentence and always receives parole before completing his/her sentence. However, prisoners sentenced for drug-related offenses have to serve 4/5 of their sentence and they never receive parole.
All the above are in direct violation of:
1. Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), 8 (right to respect for private and family life,) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
2. Articles 7 (nullum crimen nulla poena sine lege - no punishment without law) and14 (freedom from discrimination), of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
E. The cruel, inhuman and degrating treatment for prisoners in Greek prisons due to overcrowding and harsh conditions is a well-known fact. In August 2007, the Ministry of Justice reported that the total prison population was 10,772, while the official capacity of the prison system was 6,019. The proof to the harsh conditions in prisons is the fact that 377 people died in Greek prisons, in the past ten years. In 2007 died 52 prisoners (attachment 4 and 6). This amounts to direct violations of:
1. Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 8 (right to respect for private and family life,) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
2. In the cases of death of prisoners, article 2 (right to life) of the same Convention.
All allegations and findings can be substantiated by real facts, official documents, testimonies, appellate Court decisions, studies and legal opinions of Athens Bar Association prominent lawyers.
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IV. REQUEST FOR URGENT PROTECTIVE MEASURES TO AVERT "IRREPARABLE HARM"
Protective orders and/or temporary injunctions are warranted when an individuals’ liberty or her or his life is at risk; in particular, such measures are justified where the protection of a citizen’s Human Rights and fundamental freedoms is at stake.
In determining the meaning of “irreparable harm”, the European Parliament should take into consideration not only its previous decisions on precautionary measures, but also the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on ordering provisional measures.
In the case at hands, protective measures should be warranted because we, the detainees, face a serious threat to our physical, psychological and moral integrity.
When seeking protective orders, there is usually a need to identify individually the people who are in danger of suffering irreparable harm. However, this does not always have to be the case. In this particular case, it is not required that each individual detainee be identified since we form part of organized communities (prisons), located in determined geographical places, whose members could be identified and individualized and who, due to our membership in such community (prison), face a similar risk of suffering acts of aggression against our personal integrity and lives.
Thus, the community of prisoners, serving sentences for drug-related offenses, can be dealt with collectively. In the present case, all the detainees are located in determined geographical places and, by virtue of our detention, the Greek Judiciary knows our identities. In addition, we are all in a situation of similar risk of continued injury, as a consequence of continued violation of our fundamental rights. Protective orders may, therefore, be issued for us, taken as a group.
This is a matter of exceptional gravity, considering Greece’s (hitherto) impunity and the refusal of the Greek Ministry of Justice to embed the following EU standards, objectives and best practices into the national judicial system:
1. The pronounced EU objective to establish common principles regarding the enforcement of custodial sentences, in the interest of enhanced international judicial co-operation;
2. The best practice of conditional release as one of the most effective and constructive means of preventing recidivism and promoting rehabilitation, provided that the prisoner receives planned, assisted and supervised reintegration into the community;
3. The often reiterated findings of relevant research that detention often has adverse effects and fails to rehabilitate offenders;
4. The consideration that financial cost of imprisonment places a severe burden on society;
5. The desirability to reduce the length of prison sentences as much as possible and that conditional release before the full sentence has been served is an important means to that end.
Also, Greece has failed to implement into her legal system the following Council resolutions on prisoners:
1. Resolution (76)10, on certain alternative penal measures to imprisonment;
2. Resolution (76)2, on the treatment of long-term prisoners.
Additionally, Greece has failed to enforce all the provisions of the following Council of Europe recommendations on prisoners:
1. Rec(2006)2, on the European Prison Rules;
2. Rec(2003)22, on conditional release (parole);
3. Rec(2000)22, on improving the implementation of the European Rules on community sanctions and measures;
4. Rec No. R(99)22, concerning prison overcrowding and prison population inflation;
5. Rec No. R(92)17, concerning consistency in sentencing;
6. Rec No. R(89)12 on education in prison.
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IV. THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IS REQUESTED TO INITIATE ACTION TO ASSIST ALL INHABITANTS OF GREEK PRISONS
We, as citizens of the EU, respectfully seek the European Parliament’s intervention.
We are kindly asking you to take the necessary steps with a view toward achieving a better protection of our rights in Greece, a better protection of our personal integrity, security of person and our right to a fair trial. We demand from Greece to respect the values on which the EU was founded, as outlined in Article 1-2 of the Treaty of Lisbon, namely: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the Rule of Law and respect for Human Rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
In particular, we request the European Parliament:
1. To activate the procedure of Article 226 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU against Member State Greece for infringement of EU Law, by failing to implement:
· The Council Framework decision 2004/757/JHA, which lays down the provisions for maximal penalties for drug-related offenses and constitutes the EU strategy for the integration and harmonization of Criminal Law for the period 2005-2012; it is noted that under Article 249 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC Treaty), this Council Framework Decision is binding for all Member States;
· The Council resolution (73)5, on the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners;
· The Council resolution (76)2, on the treatment of long-term prisoners;
· The Council resolution (76)10, on alternative punitive measures other than imprisonment (community service).
2. To intervene immediately and take the necessary steps for the introduction of protective measures in order to avert irreparable harm to all detainees in Greek prisons, and the immediate enforcement of:
· The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission common decision 2007/C 303/01, on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU;
· The Council’s recommendations:
· Rec(2006)2,on the European prisons,
· Rec(2003)22, on conditional release (parole)
· Rec R(2000)22, on improving the implementation of the European rules on community sanctions and measures, and
· Rec R(99)22, on prison overcrowding and prison population inflation,
· Rec No. R(92)17, concerning consistency in sentencing;
· Rec No. R(89)12 on education in prison;
· The UN General Assembly decision A/RES/45/111, concerning the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
3. To stop Greece’s impunity for continuously abusing the Human Rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons detained in Greek prisons, in violation of the decision 2007/C 303/01;
4. To request the EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights, which has been set up by the European Commission, to monitor the situation of fundamental rights in the prisons of Greece, on the basis of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the International Human Rights Law;
5. To bring this matter before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and take any necessary action to seek and achieve Greek compliance with applicable European Law, under article 288 of the EC Treaty, and satisfactory remedy for each prisoner in Greece, who has been judged by the Greek Courts in violation of the Council Framework decision 2004/757/JHA;
6. Finally, we request the European Union to indemnify all detainees of the Greek prisons, for damages to them and to their families caused by the Member State of Greece, due to all above violations of the Law.
Respectfully submitted and signed by 700 prisoners, via powers of attorney, which are attached.
Athens, the same date as above
Signature of authorised proxy:
Attachments:
1. U.S. Department of State report, describing Human Rights malpractices and abuses in Greece for 2007.
2. Former Greek Minister of Justice statements about corrupt judges.
3. Newspaper articles on the corrupt judges.
4. Newspaper article for prisoners’ deaths in Greek prisons.
5. Various local newspaper articles on prisoners’ hunger strike in Greek prisons.
6. Typical letter, in Greek, from a detainee in Trikala prison describing the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment for prisoners, due to overcrowding and harsh conditions.
7. List with the names of Seven hundred (700) prisoners that provided powers of attorney.
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