Gypsy wins a day in Greek court
The European Union's top court has condemned Greece for violating the European Convention on Human Rights in a case filed by a woman who suffered a miscarriage after abuse by Greek police in 2001.
By Kathy Tzilivakis, Thursday, January 10, 2008
The European Court of Human Rights has dealt a severe blow to Greek law enforcement and the country's justice system, ordering Greece to pay 21,000 euros to a Roma (Gypsy) woman who said she was kicked in the back and stomach while pregnant by a police officer during a raid on a makeshift settlement in the western Athens industrial suburb of Aspropyrgos six years ago.
Human rights campaigners have hailed the ruling as a landmark victory in the fight against police brutality against Gypsies and other visible minorities in Greece. The police tactics in the raid in Aspropyrgos in 2002 sparked heated criticism from local and international human rights organisations. But it was not an isolated incident. It was one of many reported cases of police targeting Gypsies in Greece.
"This is the fourth conviction in 2007 related to police violence [against Gypsies]," said Panayotis Dimitras of the Greek Helsinki Monitor, a local rights watchdog. "This indicates that there is a serious problem of police violence and impunity. It also shows there is institutional racism in the Greek police. The Greek Helsinki Monitor has repeatedly called on the state to deal with such cases before they reach the European court."
In the case reviewed by the Strasbourg-based human rights court, Fani-Yannula Petropoulou-Tsakiri, 28, testified that police ignored her pleas for urgent medical assistance and allegedly herded her onto a police van with other Gypsies who had been arbitrarily arrested. Tsakiri, who was 10 weeks pregnant, suffered a miscarriage. Today she lives in Amfissa with her four children.
According to a report published by the Swiss-based World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) about the 2002 raid, "Officers ordered Roma [Gypsy] individuals to lie face down on the ground while they aimed their guns at them. Other officers entered into almost every home - in some circumstances by force - in search of both drugs and hiding [Gypsy] persons. Once all the individuals were gathered outside their homes, officers began to threaten and harass the group while they waited for transport vehicles. During this time, reports indicate that bullets were fired in the air, while several incidents of police brutality were also registered."
The ruling
The court held unanimously that there had been a violation of article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights concerning the lack of an effective investigation into Tsakiri's allegation and that there had been a violation of article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) taken in conjunction with article 3.
"The court finds that the failure of the authorities to investigate possible racial motives for the applicant's ill-treatment, combined with their [discriminatory] attitude during the investigation, constitutes discrimination with regard to the applicant's rights which is contrary to article 14 taken in conjunction with article 3 in its procedural limb," said the ruling.
However, the court ruled, by six votes to one, that there had been no violation of article 3 concerning her allegation that she had been the victim of police brutality.
As explained in the ruling, the decision of the six judges (including one from Greece, Christos Rozakis) was based on the fact that the circumstances in which Tsakiri's bleeding had occurred on 28 January 2002 "were not entirely clear". The medical report only stated that she had bled and suffered a miscarriage. No reference was made to bruises, injuries or any other cause of the bleeding.
The one dissenting opinion was voiced by Loukis Loucaides (Cypriot), the president of the court. Loucaides says he does not share the opinion that there was no violation of article 3 as regards the alleged ill-treatment inflicted by police.
"The applicant stated her complaint in a coherent and convincing manner," said Loucaides in his dissenting opinion. "She explained that she had been kicked on her back and, as a result, had felt an intense pain in the abdominal area and started bleeding. There followed a miscarriage... What I cannot understand is why the majority did not believe her story, without even finding a concrete, well-founded reason why she must have lied. In fact, the evidence does not disclose any such reason. The fact that the medical report produced by the applicant made no reference to bruises and to any possible causes of the bleeding does not detract from the truthfulness of the applicant's complaint."
Loucaides also stressed that the majority decision could be "very dangerous in the sense that it may cause injustice to individuals like the applicant, whose evidence may not by itself be taken seriously because of police prejudice as regards their status".
He also said it may "encourage the police to use unacceptable methods of investigation, amounting to ill-treatment in respect of persons like the applicant or other persons who do not have any eyewitnesses to corroborate their complaints of ill-treatment."
Kathy Tzilivakis writes for the Athens News and appears here with permission.
By Kathy Tzilivakis, Thursday, January 10, 2008
The European Court of Human Rights has dealt a severe blow to Greek law enforcement and the country's justice system, ordering Greece to pay 21,000 euros to a Roma (Gypsy) woman who said she was kicked in the back and stomach while pregnant by a police officer during a raid on a makeshift settlement in the western Athens industrial suburb of Aspropyrgos six years ago.
Human rights campaigners have hailed the ruling as a landmark victory in the fight against police brutality against Gypsies and other visible minorities in Greece. The police tactics in the raid in Aspropyrgos in 2002 sparked heated criticism from local and international human rights organisations. But it was not an isolated incident. It was one of many reported cases of police targeting Gypsies in Greece.
"This is the fourth conviction in 2007 related to police violence [against Gypsies]," said Panayotis Dimitras of the Greek Helsinki Monitor, a local rights watchdog. "This indicates that there is a serious problem of police violence and impunity. It also shows there is institutional racism in the Greek police. The Greek Helsinki Monitor has repeatedly called on the state to deal with such cases before they reach the European court."
In the case reviewed by the Strasbourg-based human rights court, Fani-Yannula Petropoulou-Tsakiri, 28, testified that police ignored her pleas for urgent medical assistance and allegedly herded her onto a police van with other Gypsies who had been arbitrarily arrested. Tsakiri, who was 10 weeks pregnant, suffered a miscarriage. Today she lives in Amfissa with her four children.
According to a report published by the Swiss-based World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) about the 2002 raid, "Officers ordered Roma [Gypsy] individuals to lie face down on the ground while they aimed their guns at them. Other officers entered into almost every home - in some circumstances by force - in search of both drugs and hiding [Gypsy] persons. Once all the individuals were gathered outside their homes, officers began to threaten and harass the group while they waited for transport vehicles. During this time, reports indicate that bullets were fired in the air, while several incidents of police brutality were also registered."
The ruling
The court held unanimously that there had been a violation of article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights concerning the lack of an effective investigation into Tsakiri's allegation and that there had been a violation of article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) taken in conjunction with article 3.
"The court finds that the failure of the authorities to investigate possible racial motives for the applicant's ill-treatment, combined with their [discriminatory] attitude during the investigation, constitutes discrimination with regard to the applicant's rights which is contrary to article 14 taken in conjunction with article 3 in its procedural limb," said the ruling.
However, the court ruled, by six votes to one, that there had been no violation of article 3 concerning her allegation that she had been the victim of police brutality.
As explained in the ruling, the decision of the six judges (including one from Greece, Christos Rozakis) was based on the fact that the circumstances in which Tsakiri's bleeding had occurred on 28 January 2002 "were not entirely clear". The medical report only stated that she had bled and suffered a miscarriage. No reference was made to bruises, injuries or any other cause of the bleeding.
The one dissenting opinion was voiced by Loukis Loucaides (Cypriot), the president of the court. Loucaides says he does not share the opinion that there was no violation of article 3 as regards the alleged ill-treatment inflicted by police.
"The applicant stated her complaint in a coherent and convincing manner," said Loucaides in his dissenting opinion. "She explained that she had been kicked on her back and, as a result, had felt an intense pain in the abdominal area and started bleeding. There followed a miscarriage... What I cannot understand is why the majority did not believe her story, without even finding a concrete, well-founded reason why she must have lied. In fact, the evidence does not disclose any such reason. The fact that the medical report produced by the applicant made no reference to bruises and to any possible causes of the bleeding does not detract from the truthfulness of the applicant's complaint."
Loucaides also stressed that the majority decision could be "very dangerous in the sense that it may cause injustice to individuals like the applicant, whose evidence may not by itself be taken seriously because of police prejudice as regards their status".
He also said it may "encourage the police to use unacceptable methods of investigation, amounting to ill-treatment in respect of persons like the applicant or other persons who do not have any eyewitnesses to corroborate their complaints of ill-treatment."
Kathy Tzilivakis writes for the Athens News and appears here with permission.
Labels: Discrimination, Greece, Gypsy, Gypsy Women, Humanitarian, Law, Roma
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