-5I. INTRODUCTION A. Dates of the visit and composition of the delegation 1. In pursuance of Article 7 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”), a delegation of the CPT carried out a visit to Greece from 19 to 27 January 2011. The visit was one which appeared to the Committee “to be required in the circumstances” (cf. Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention). 2. The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT: - Mauro PALMA, President of the CPT and Head of delegation Marija DEFINIS-GOJANOVIĆ Mario FELICE Ilvija PŪCE Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI George TUGUSHI. They were supported by Hugh CHETWYND (Head of Division) and Marco LEIDEKKER of the CPT’s Secretariat, and were assisted by the following interpreters: Eleonora CAMBAS, Maria Louca HOUVARDA, Haris GHINOS, Ionathan MARKEL, Pantea NOURGOSTAR, Alexander ZAPHIRIOU and Petros ZOMAS. 3. The list of the establishments visited by the CPT’s delegation can be found in Appendix II. B. Context of the visit 4. In the report on the August/September 2005 periodic visit to Greece, the CPT expressed its serious concern about the fact that the Committee was obliged to reiterate many of its recommendations, some of which were of very long standing. In particular, the persistent failure by the Greek authorities to tackle the structural deficiencies in the prison service and in the establishments holding foreign nationals was highlighted. A further concern related to the apparent absence of effective action when allegations of ill-treatment were brought to the attention of the authorities, which led to a climate of impunity within the law enforcement agencies. These same issues have been pursued in further visits carried out by the CPT to Greece in February 2007, September 2008 and September 2009. In the light of the findings during these visits and the persistent non-implementation of recommendations, the Committee decided to open the procedure under Article 10, paragraph 2, of the Convention1 and requested the views of the Greek authorities on this matter. Further, with a view to enhancing its dialogue with the Greek authorities, the concerns of the Committee were conveyed to Ministers and senior officials of the current Greek government during high-level talks in Athens on 18-19 January 2010. 1 Article 10, paragraph 2, reads as follows: “If the Party fails to co-operate or refuses to improve the situation in the light of the Committee's recommendations, the Committee may decide, after the Party has had an opportunity to make known its views, by a majority of two-thirds of its members to make a public statement on the matter.”