Now we rebuke the European Parliament and the State Department

Our country’s informal record on rights issues is heavy. In 2011, the competent Committee of the Council of Europe (CPT) for the prevention of torture and inhumane treatment or punishment had issued a Public Statement against our country because of the detention conditions in Greek prisons.

Our country initially reacted. On the one hand, he invoked memorandum austerity, on the other hand, he reinforced a decongestion policy with successive annual laws that had started in 2009 and reached 2019, so that the overcrowding of prisoners was somewhat relieved.

The second international disapproval was heavier and covered a wider range of issues. Specifically, with a broad and cross-party majority, the Plenary of the European Parliament (7-2-2024) proceeded to Resolution on the problems of the rule of law in Greece. A democratic country for Europe is one that respects the separation of powers, legality, freedom of the press and the rights of citizens in general, and that fights corruption. The rule of law, as is known, is a kind of national identity and symbol before the organized international community. In particular, it constitutes a condition for the smooth presence of a member state in the European legal order: The European Union now depends (term, conditionality, conditionality) on some of the financial grants to its members on the observance of the democratic rules. Injustice, among other things, costs.

The government was undeterred. He denounced the authors of the Resolution, MEPs who voted, generally anti-national elements, all this under the loving care of her friendly press inside the country. It goes without saying that she did not change her attitude even by a single click.

On 22/4/2024 came the new blow. Released on State Department report of the US* on the Human Rights Status. It refers specifically to Greece in matters of corruption of state officials, human rights violations, insults to refugees and prisoners, restrictions on freedom of the press as well as surveillance of journalists and politicians with the illegal Predator system. Sources were, as mentioned in the Report, international organizations, non-governmental organizations with international recognition, reliable newspapers, as well as a report by the Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection.*

The Reports of the Committee of the Council of Europe on prisons and the related convictions by the European Court of Human Rights (the problem was pointed out on 22/4/2024 by the Greek judge in Strasbourg Professor I. Ktistakis)** were met in our country with communicative silence. Then the above Resolution of the Plenary of the European Parliament was treated as we have seen with complaints against MEPs for disinformation. How is the US State Department Report being treated now? Maybe with conspiracy theories of the legal classes of the whole world against our country?

The question didn’t last long. A way was immediately found to reprimand the State Department as well. The Americans made very serious mistakes! They asked independent non-governmental organizations and not the Greek government itself.

Of course, for fair judgments and opinions, the independence of judges and witnesses is a self-evident condition. Responses of organizations or agencies dependent on governments naturally show less credibility before the international legal order when precisely state responsibilities are examined. Let’s look at it more generally: Everyone should be heard, but the judge’s own disagreement about a negative judgment is usually expected and not the basic criterion of correctness.

Now what; Since the government does not admit responsibility, it will obviously continue the same attitude. The heavy consequences will continue to affect the citizen.

NOTES

* US Department of State, 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Greece

** In his lecture on “The prohibition of torture”, in the context of the event “Honoring Dimitrios Evrygenis”, organized in Thessaloniki by the Center for International and European Economic Law