Submission of the Greek Council for Refugees to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in the case of M.S.S v. Belgium and Greece (Application no. 30696/09) March 2013 Greek Council for Refugees is pleased to present to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe this submission under Rule 9.2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Committee of Ministers, under its supervisory role on execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and, in particular, the implementation of the general obligations arising from the judgment M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece. The present submission will focus on the respect of these obligations by Greece. The Greek Council for Refugees provides an assessment of the general situation in Greece on all aspects of the M.S.S. judgment and in particular the use of detention as well as the detention conditions in Greece. The Greek Council for Refugees further suggests to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe a series of recommendations that should be made to Greece concerning several issues. 1. Detention and detention conditions Τhere are two main frameworks concerning detention of third country nationals in Greece. Detention for the purpose of removal (deportation/return), regulated by two laws 3386/ 2005 and 3907/2011 which implement the EU Return Directive to the domestic legal system, and detention of asylum seekers regulated by PD 114/2010 as amended. Although detention is provided as exceptional measure, in practice detention is applied as a rule for third – country nationals apprehended without legal documents and for asylum seekers who apply for asylum while being in detention. Both categories maybe subjected to prolonged detention up to 18 months. Since May 2012 the Greek authorities have taken no steps with respect to systematic detention and to detention conditions. Detention of asylum seekers is still used systematically and routinely with deterrent purposes and it can last for as long as the asylum application is being processed. No changes have been made as well as no Guidelines from the Ministry of