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Nach einer Recherche in unserer Länderdokumentation und im Internet können wir Ihnen zu oben genannter Fragestellung Materialien zur Verfügung stellen, die unter anderem folgende Informationen enthalten:

Ein Mitarbeiter des Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) verwies in einem E-Mail vom 3. März 2008 auf einen Medienbericht über einen ähnlichen Fall eines Sudanesen, der am 22. Februar 2008 in Athen von drei PolizistInnen geschlagen worden und in Folge gestorben sei:

„Yet, I just received an e-mail today with the title “Allegation Shock” which appeared on the paper eleutherotipia on 01/03/2008.

(http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=33525544)

I am including the whole article in Greek written by Christos Zervas. What it basically says is that:

‘Many eyewitnesses informed the ’team of Lawyers for the Rights of Refugees’, of the death of a young foreigner in the center of Athens after his brutal beating by three policemen. According to the witnesses the event took place on Feb. 22 at 14.00 in the Omonia square area of Athens. The victims name is Abdukarim Yahya Idris, Sudanese citizen, 25-30 years old’. Zervas also mentions that eyewitnesses report ’One of the policemen hit him repeatedly with particular roughness. He kicked him so hard on his face and as a result the man fell unconscious on the ground while blood was running from his mouth.’“

In einer aktuellen öffentlichen Aussendung vom 27. Februar 2008 drückt Amnesty International (AI) seine Besorgnis über die Behandlung von AsylwerberInnen durch griechische Behörden aus und bemängelt das Fehlen von Maßnahmen, effektive Asylverfahren durchzuführen sowie AsylwerberInnen entsprechend unterzubringen. Unter anderem wird angemerkt, dass rund 2.500 Personen, darunter auch Minderjährige, die meisten von ihnen vermutlich afghanische AsylwerberInnen, in der Hafengegend von Patras aus ihren behelfsmäßigen Unterkünften vertrieben worden seien. Auch wenn Griechenland Personen nicht nach Afghanistan zurückführe, so würden deren Asylansuchen dennoch nicht schnell und fair bearbeitet, was die AsylwerberInnen in einen langfristigen Zustand ohne legalen Status und damit ohne Rechte bringe:

„Amnesty International notes the decision of the Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board to suspend returning refugees and asylum-seekers to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation. Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed concerns to the Greek authorities about its treatment of asylum-seekers and failure to provide effective asylum procedures. The organization is concerned to receive reports that asylum-seekers have been held in conditions amounting to arbitrary detention pending the examination of their claim. Asylum-seekers are often interviewed about their claim in the absence of an interpreter and lawyer. Lawyers report that in practice, individuals can expect to have their claim rejected at first instance. Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Greek authorities to take concrete measures to improve the conditions for asylum-seekers including by resolving the legal limbo in which they are left ? without documents and without access to any social services in practice. In a letter to the Greek authorities sent on 7 February 2008, the organization expressed its concern for the well-being of an estimated 2,500 people, including unaccompanied children as young as nine years old evicted from their makeshift homes in the port area of Patras. Most of the evicted people are believed to be asylum-seekers from Afghanistan. Greece does not return people to Afghanistan and yet does not process their asylum application in a prompt, fair way, leaving them in limbo without legal status and therefore without rights.“ (AI, 27. Februar 2008)

Die Nachrichtenagentur Agence France Presse (AFP) berichtete am 8. Februar diesen Jahres von einem Aufruf von Amnesty International betreffend mutmaßlicher Misshandlungen einer Gruppe afghanischer EinwanderInnen durch die Küstenwache:

„Human rights group Amnesty International on Friday called on Greece to investigate the case of 13 Afghan immigrants, including eight minors, who accuse members of the Greek coastguard of mistreating and robbing them. In statements to Amnesty in January, the migrants said they were intercepted by the crews of two vessels flying the Greek flag off the island of Lesvos. The uniformed men, some of whom were wearing hoods, allegedly beat several of the migrants -- including two boys aged 9 and 13. They also allegedly tore through the migrants' baggage with knives, stripped some of them down to their underwear and took their cellphones and money. They subsequently put them in inflatable dinghies, punctured them, and told them to return to Turkey, according to the testimony given by the migrants, who are in Turkish detention at the coastal town of Ayvalik, Amnesty said.

"Such an act could endanger the migrants' lives and is a clear violation of Greece's responsibilities under its international and European obligations," Amnesty said. Amnesty noted that the migrants' story is consistent with other reports of rights violations it has received in recent months. Human rights groups regularly castigate Greek authorities for their treatment of illegal immigrants and for failing to provide asylum-seekers with information on their rights to sanctuary. In October, the German-based PRO ASYL group released a report detailing cases where coastguards beat migrants to extract information on smuggling operations. The group also said the Greek coastguard routinely tries to block migrants' boats and force them out of Greek territorial waters.

Greece said it would investigate these cases, and officials stress that Greek border guards are hard-pressed to deal with the thousands of migrants who try to penetrate the EU's southeastern border every year. But Amnesty noted that it has yet to receive information from the Greek merchant marine ministry on the coastguards' training and chain of command in response to a request filed nearly two months ago. Internal coastguard probes rarely result in charges being filed.“ (AFP, 8. Februar 2008)

Amnesty International (AI) beschreibt in einem Bericht vom Juni 2007 mehrere Vorfälle von Polizeigewalt gegenüber MigrantInnen, darunter jenen eines Polizisten, der zwei Migranten geschlagen und sie gezwungen habe, einander zu seinem Amüsement zu schlagen, sowie jenen einer moldawischen Migrantin, die auf einer Polizeistation festgehalten und verprügelt worden sei:

„Amnesty International is deeply concerned by a video clip that has appeared on the Internet showing two migrants -- one of whom is known to be Albanian -- detained at Omonia police station in central Athens being beaten by police officers and being forced to slap each other repeatedly. The incident took place in June 2006 but the video was only circulated on 16 June 2007. The senior officer involved reportedly stated to journalists, "I did it for a laugh. I wasn't beating them for any particular reason but because I wanted us to have a bit of fun". He, along with three other officers, has now been suspended from duty and an investigation is underway.

Amnesty International condemns the incident and welcomes the swift action taken by the authorities following the publication of the video. Nevertheless, Amnesty International is concerned that the video emerged amid rumours that other such videos exist, and at a time when lawyers and human rights groups have reported to the organization that allegations of ill-treatment in Greece are on the increase.

In a recent case reported to Amnesty International, a young Moldovan woman was allegedly ill-treated by officers at the General Police Headquarters of Attica in central Athens on 8 June 2007. The woman, who has been residing legally in Greece for four years with her family, was taken to the police station in an unmarked car by three plain-clothed police officers after they searched her home and demanded to see her residence permit and that of her father. Upon arrival at the police station they told her that they were looking for her ex-partner, and wanted her to tell them his address. She stated that she did not know it, whereupon they searched her handbag and examined her mobile telephone record.

She stated that subsequently she was taken into a different office of the police station by three non-uniformed female officers, one of whom repeatedly beat her around the head, causing her great pain. She said that the officers then told her to strip to her underwear and face the wall whereupon one of them hit her again and pulled out clumps of her hair.

She said that she was then taken back to the first office where one of the three male officers again asked the whereabouts of her ex-partner. She said that they threatened to destroy her residence permit and that one officer told her, "we'll bring your parents here too and they will go through what you have. You will appear before a court as a defendant and we will send you back to your country along with your parents." One of the officers allegedly gripped her by the arm and threatened to hit her, while another kicked her.

After around three hours, they released her, telling her to "disappear", but to inform them if she had news of her ex-partner. She went to hospital with pains in her head, dizziness and nausea. She was examined by x-ray and given a neck brace to wear.

Despite the fact that the woman has stated that she would be able to identify the officers involved, the fact that they gave her the telephone number of their office in order for her to pass on information to them about her ex-partner, and the fact that the following day she lodged a complaint of bodily harm, threats and blackmail, no steps have yet been taken to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.“ (AI, 18. Juni 2007)

Ein älterer Bericht der britischen Zeitung „The Independent“ vom Dezember 2004 beschreibt einen Fall schwerer Misshandlungen von bis zu 30 MigrantInnen durch mehrere griechische PolizeibeamtInnen in einem Anhaltelager:

„At least four Greek police officers are accused of inflicting brutal beatings, mock executions and taking naked photographs of up to 30 immigrant men during interrogations.

Doctors from Athens' Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims who examined the men confirmed they had received serious bruising, and, in one case, a man was suffering from concussion. Maria Piniou-Kalli, medical director, said "from the clinical examination there is no doubt the beatings amount to torture". She described the ordeal of one of the men: "As two officers were beating the man, a police baton was forced in his mouth, adding a sexual element to the assault. When he fell on the floor two of the officers spread his legs while an other took pictures, with his mobile phone - probably inspired by interrogations of prisoners in Iraq. When the abused man signalled he needed water, one of the policemen opened his mouth and spat in it."

The incident took place in holding cells after dozens of migrants were detained by police seeking information on the whereabouts of another Afghan man who had escaped from custody during a routine verification of his residence permit.“ (The Independent, 24. Dezember 2004)

Einen allgemeinen Überblick über die Lage und die Aufnahmebedingungen von AsylwerberInnen und MigrantInnen bieten die folgenden beiden Berichte:

Diese Informationen beruhen auf einer zeitlich begrenzten Recherche in öffentlich zugänglichen Dokumenten, die ACCORD derzeit zur Verfügung stehen. Diese Antwort stellt keine Meinung zum Inhalt eines bestimmten Ansuchens um Asyl oder anderen internationalen Schutz dar. Wir empfehlen, die verwendeten Materialien zur Gänze durchzusehen.