- 40 90. The CPT trusts that the Greek authorities will establish a police complaints body, which is fully independent and is sufficiently resourced to carry out effective investigations into allegations of police ill-treatment. 4. Safeguards against the ill-treatment of detained persons 91. As regards the safeguards against ill-treatment advocated by the CPT (the rights of detained persons to inform a close relative or another third party of their situation, to have access to a lawyer, and to have access to a doctor), the situation had not changed since the CPT’s 2009 visit. The CPT’s findings suggest that the enjoyment of the right of notification of the deprivation of liberty to a third party is dependent of the possession of a telephone card or, alternatively, the money to buy such a card, which was frequently not the case. In this context, it should be noted that so far no legal provisions have been adopted spelling out the circumstances when the exercise of the right to inform a third party of one’s custody can be delayed and making any such delay subject to appropriate safeguards (e.g. any delay to be recorded in writing along with the reason, and to require the approval of a prosecutor or judge) and strictly limited in time. As regards access to a lawyer, many criminal suspects claimed to have met their lawyer for the first time in court, after a few days of detention. This delay in access in many cases appears to be related to the lack of financial means of the detained person. The CPT recommended in its 2009 report that the Greek authorities engage with the Greek Bar Association, in order to extend access to legal aid scheme to the stage of police investigation, which is apparently at present not covered . Only in this way will the right of access to a lawyer during police custody be rendered effective in practice. Access to a doctor outside the context of a medical urgency continues to be looked up on as a favour to a detained person, and not as a right . Access to a doctor remained therefore dependent on police staff. In addition, many persons detained by the police claimed that they not received information on the above-mentioned rights or were unable to understand the information provided. The CPT calls upon the Greek authorities to make additional efforts to render fully effective in practice the rights of detained persons to inform a close relative or another third party of their situation, to have access to a lawyer, and to have access to a doctor, including by means of the establishment of an adequately empowered police inspectorate.

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