can last for several months .26 Moreover, AITIMA also documented the practice of “re-
detention”, whereby a person is detained more than once for the period exceeding the
maximum permissible period of detention.27
Following a visit in January 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stressed
that the detention of non-citizens for up to 18 months, in conditions that are sometimes
even worse than in regular prisons, “could be considered as a punishment imposed on a
person who has not committed any crime. This appears to be a serious violation of the
principle of proportionality which may render the deprivation of liberty arbitrary.”28 Both
the UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee against Torture have thus
urged Greece to ensure that immigration detention is ordered for the shortest time-
period possible.29
Law 4375 provides a shorter detention period for unaccompanied children, which is not
to exceed 25 days. Detention may be prolonged for a further twenty days (article
46(10)(b)) due to exceptional circumstances. The Special Rapporteur on the human
rights of migrants noted that asylum-seeking children are frequently detained for longer
than 45 days.30
Procedural guarantees. Detention orders are issued by the Police Director, although in
cases falling within the geographical authority of the General Police Directorates of
Attica or Thessaloniki, the Police Director for Aliens is responsible (Law 4275/2016,
article 46(3)). Detention orders should be presented within three days following arrest,
be issued in writing, and explain the reasons in law and fact (Law 3907/2011, article
30(2)).
The individual concerned must receive the information outlining the reasons for their
detention in a language they can understand (3386/2005, article 76(3)) as well as
information about their rights (Law 3907/2011, article 30(2)), and communication with
their counsel must also be facilitated (3386/2005, article 76(3)). According to the UN
Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, however, detainees are often not
provided with information in a language they can understand, have limited access to
legal assistance, and receive little or no professional interpretation assistance.31
26
Greek Council for Refugees, “Country report: Greece,” Asylum Information Database (AIDA), European Council on
Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), December 2016, http://www.asylumineurope.org/reports/country/greece.
27
AITIMA, “FORGOTTEN: Administratively detained irregular migrants and asylum seekers,” October 2016,
http://www.aitima.gr/index.php/en/news/324-10-october-2016-new-aitima-report-forgotten.
28
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, “Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Addendum: Mission to
Greece,” A/HRC/27/48/Add.2, 30 June, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/GRIndex.aspx.
29
Human Rights Committee, “Concluding observations on the second periodic report of Greece,”
CCPR/C/GRC/CO/2, 3 December 2015, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/GRIndex.aspx;;
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.
30
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.
31
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/23/46/Add.4, 17 April 2013,
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