were locked in police station cells 24/7 without access to the outdoors for over two
weeks and without any recreational or educational activity. Detained children lacked
access to interpreters, legal assistance, and information presented in a child-friendly
manner.22 The Special Rapporteur’s observations concur with findings from the CPT’s
2016 visit to Greece. As well as criticising the use of, and conditions in, the RICs and
police stations, the Committee also highlighted the situation in detention centres. The
CPT found that the conditions in detention centres were inadequate for children.
Children in Petrou Ralli centre, for example, were locked in their rooms and offered just
30 minutes of daily outdoor exercise. They were also not provided with bed linen,
sufficient personal hygiene products, activities or support. The Committee therefore
recommended that authorities stop using Petrou Ralli centre for detaining children.23
The UN human rights treaty bodies have also criticised Greece’s detention of foreign
children. In 2012, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the country’s
authorities to ensure that unaccompanied children are not detained or that only in
exceptional circumstances—and for the shortest period of time—should they remain in
detention.24 In the same year, the UN Committee against Torture recommended that
Greece promptly amend its legislation to prohibit the detention of unaccompanied
children.25
Length of detention. According to articles 30(5)-(6) of Law 3907, which mirror the
Returns Directive, the initial period of detention is up to six months. This can be
extended by up to 18 months if, despite all reasonable efforts employed by authorities,
return proceedings last longer due to a lack of cooperation from the person concerned or
delays in obtaining the necessary documents from destination countries. Before setting
the current maximum length of detention, Greece had gradually extended this period:
from three to six months in 2009, and up to 18 months in 2011, when transposing the
Returns Directive.
In contrast, the maximum length for detaining asylum seekers was reduced in 2016.
Currently, the maximum duration is set at three months (Law 4375, article 46(4)).
Previously the maximum duration was 18 months and until 2012, asylum seekers could
be detained for up to either three or six months, depending on whether the person
applied for international protection after or prior to being arrested. Yet in practice, as the
GCR noted, people applying for asylum whilst in detention are frequently held for longer
than the time-limit due to delays in registering the asylum application—and these delays
22
Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of
migrants on his mission to Greece,” A/HRC/35/25/Add.2, 24 April 2017,
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Migration/SRMigrants/Pages/CountryVisits.aspx.
23
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT),
“Report to the Government of Greece on the visit to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 13 to 18 April and 19 to 25 July 2016,”
CPT/Inf (2017) 25, September 2017, https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/greece.
24
Committee on the Rights of the Child, “Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 44 of the
Convention: Concluding observations: Greece,” CRC/C/GRC/CO/2-3, 13 August 2012,
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/GRIndex.aspx.
25
Committee against Torture, “Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 19 of the
Convention: Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture: Greece,” CAT/C/GRC/CO/5-6, 27 June 2012,
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/GRIndex.aspx.
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