Downloaded by [82.28.181.28] at 02:36 18 February 2016 ETHNIC AND RACIAL STUDIES 9 2001, 2009, 2011; Government of Greece 1994, 2010; HP 1998a, 1999, 2005a, 2008b; HRC 2011; MPO 2000, 2002; MPOCP 2012a). This topos features prominently in the government’s responce to the 2014 CPT report: rather than denying or constructing anti-migrant violence as ‘isolated events’ – which in that context would be difficult to sustain – allegations of police violence are said to be investigated by the relevant authorities (Government of Greece 2014). The topos of lack of evidence is further legitimated by references to an independent judicial system. Replying to a journalist’s question on the absence of convictions for torture and mistreatment between 1996 and 2001, a PASOK affiliatated MPO stated that ‘the Judiciary … in many cases issued non-guilty verdicts [ … ]the judiciary is independent and its decisions should be respected’ (MPO 2002). Similarly, the formal response of a New Democracy administration to a CPT report stated that ‘only the courts are permitted to judge’ (Government of Greece 2009, 13) allegations of mistreatment against police officers. However, even data provided by the Greek government suggest that both administrative inquiries and legal prosecutions rarely resulted in guilty verdicts (CERD 2009; Government of Greece 1994, 2009). It is beyond the scope of this paper to analyse the reasons for this. Suffice to say that while government speakers utilize the perceived independence and impartiality of the Greek judiciary as a delegitimating device, research has shown that the justice system has not been historically independent from the executive, it tends to maintain the status quo, and its practicioners likely to be prejudiced towards migrants (Papapantoleon 2014). In short, official framings of violence do not simply adopt a narrative of isolated events (Christopoulos 2014; Triandafyllidou and Kouki 2014), but a more complex argumentation claiming that there is no evidence to substantiate complaints, despite the existence of appropriate procedures. This allows political actors to downplay the systemic nature of violence against migrants. In a sense, the failure of state authorities in investigating and prosecuting incidents of violence is used as evidence that violence against migrants is not a significant social issue (see Goodey 2007; Solomos and Schuster 2002). However, the extensive reporting of violence against migrants over a period of twenty years suggests that it is an institutional practice tolerated through inaction (Christopoulos 2014; Papapantoleon 2014; Xenakis 2013). The persistence of this narrative is also linked to the institutional role of the Greek security agencies, and especially the police, whereby criticisms of police practices against migrants and political efforts to reform it are seen as undermining its protective role (HP 2008b, 2009b, 2013b). This ‘culture of impunity’ has had a legitimating effect on the employment of violence against migrants and the reproduction of racism in the Greek context (Pavlou 2009; Triandafyllidou and Kouki 2014).