Rape, theft and parastatal at the border

Intense and continuous seems to be the racist violence in Hellasaccording to its Annual Report Network for Recording Incidents of Racial Violence. In public spaces, in police stations, in detention centers, in schools, racist violence is “present” with the recorded incidents constituting only the tip of the iceberg.

Specifically, during the period January-December 2023the Network recorded through interviews with the victims 158 incidents of racist violencemore than double compared to its recording 2022 which included 74 incidents.

In the majority of cases, they were targeted Immigrants, refugees the asylum seekers and LGBTI+ people. In particular, in 89 incidents immigrants, refugees or asylum seekers were targeted because of their national origin, religion or colour. In some of these incidents there was intersectional targeting with victims being targeted by perpetrators due to various factors such as sexual orientation, gender identity and/or disability.

In 61 incidents they were targeted LGBTI+ people, based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression. In some of these incidents the victims were targeted both based on their LGBTI+ identity and in the context of disability.

“Racist crime is changing form. It was a crime that hunted the foreigner but today it mutates and becomes a crime that hunts the different in all its forms. We find ups and downs because knowing that what we record is the tip of the iceberg we find that at times some people are ashamed to show their racist speech and sometimes they stop being ashamed. After the Golden Dawn trial, they had started to feel a little ashamed, now they have started not to feel ashamed again,” said, among other things, the president of the National Commission for Human Rights, professor Maria Gavouneli during the presentation of the Network’s annual report.

The kind of violence

The Network’s findings state mixed type of violence in most of the recorded incidents. In particular, in 95 of the 158 incidents, it is found that verbal (e.g. abuse, threats), physical violence (e.g. bodily harm) and/or damage to someone else’s property (e.g. theft) is involved.

Also recorded 1 homicide9 incidents of physical violence, 26 of verbal violence, 5 of damage to foreign property, as well as 22 incidents of other types of racist behavior.

The victims

Men seems to be the more victims of racist attacks recorded by the Network. Specifically, in 112 incidents the victims were men, including transgender men. In 32 incidents the victims were women, including transgender women, while in 4 incidents the victims identified themselves as non-binary people. According to the Report, in 1 incident the victim identified himself as gender queer and in 1 more the victim identified himself as gender fluid. In 5 incidents women and men were victims.

At the same time, in 54 incidents the victims belong to the age group of 18-25 years, in 24 incidents people between 26-30 years old were targeted, in 17 incidents people 31-40 years old were targeted, in 7 incidents people 41-50 years old were targeted and in 3 incidents people over 50 were targeted.

The profile of the perpetrators

In the vast majority of them, the perpetrators of the incidents of racist violence recorded by the Network are abusers is men. In comparison, the perpetrators were men in 128 of 158 caseswhile at 15 it was women.

In 9 incidents the victims recognize mixed groups of perpetrators with men and women. According to the victims, the perpetrators are overwhelmingly Greek (134 incidents).

There are also 7 incidents in which the perpetrators were of mixed nationality, including Greeks, Albanians and other nationalities, as well as 9 incidents in which the perpetrators were foreigners, who targeted fellow citizens due to sexual orientation, gender identity or ethnic origin.

In 69 incidents the victims identified the perpetrators as civilians, in 63 the victims stated that the perpetrators were in uniform, in 11 they stated that they were public servants. In addition, in 6 incidents the perpetrators were employers. In 5 incidents the perpetrators were identified as members of groups that practice racist violence. Finally, in 4 incidents the status of the perpetrators is mixed, i.e. in 2 the victims state that the perpetrators were civilians and uniformed, while in another 2 the victims state that the perpetrators were uniformed and other public servants.

In 91 incidents more than one perpetrator was involved, in 18 incidents the victims stated that the perpetrators were again involved in an incident of violence.

Adolescence in the vortex of violence

It is also important percentage of minor victims of violence as in 50 incidents, minors are found among the victims. In 8 incidents among the perpetrators minors are detected. In the recorded incidents, the age range of the perpetrators varies from 15 to 65 years.

Intense racist violence by representatives of the state

Worrying are the foundings of the Network’s record about the incidents of racist violence and racist attitudes from state representatives. Specifically, in 2023, in over 70 incidents, victims stated that they were targeted by representatives of the state, in the majority of them by representatives of the security forces.

Unprovoked violence in plain sight

Most incidents of racist violence took place in Attica34 the number. Second in recorded incidents comes the Thessaloniki (32) but according to the data provided by the network, it seems that racist violence is not limited only to large urban centers since incidents are recorded throughout the territory.

The more of these occurred in public area (street, park, square, etc.).

In 2023 the Network recorded racist actions against all targeted groups usually by individuals, during some activity of the victims as part of their daily life, even inside their home. The victim is sometimes attacked by a person unknown to him, while moving in a public space (e.g. MMM, square, street, bar), sometimes he is targeted by a person in his close or wider social environment (e.g. friends , neighbours).

Continuous violence at the country’s borders

Aversion cause the qualitative as well as the quantitative characteristics of the incidents racist violence that were recorded on the borders of Greece. The Network recorded over 60 incidents in areas near the country’s borders, including reception centers and areas, detention centers and police stations.

In all cases, were targeted refugees and Immigrants. In the majority of these incidents, the victims stated that the perpetrators were members of groups with elements of organizationor the victims identified the perpetrators as uniformed. In some of the incidents, the victims stated that were detained by the perpetrators and the violence was used during their detention.

In addition, victims stated that the perpetrators proceeded to intense physical violence. In one testimony, he is even mentioned rape of a refugee woman. In many cases the victims stated that their perpetrators removed money and objects.

In more detail, from the relevant testimonies as well as the wider relevant trends recorded by the Network in recent years, it follows that the victims were attacked by groups of men at the country’s borderswho they brought weapons, they wore either black clothes, or military-style clothing as well as (full face) masks. In these incidents, although the victims do not always recognize the appearance of the perpetrators, they could refer to some security body of the country, it seems that the way in which the perpetrators operate and the equipment they carry (organization in the way of attack, use of weapons and radios, detention in places, etc.) lead the victims to perceive the perpetrators as representatives of the state.

The full Racial Violence Reporting Network investigation:

ETHSIA EKTHESI RVRN 2023 21X27,7_tel