Out of the spotlight: The rights of foreigners and minorities are still a grey area • 69 programmes are set up to combat anti-Roma prejudice among the population at large and within communities neighbouring Romani settlements in particular. Amnesty International also calls on international bodies such as the Union of European Football Associations, which are assessing Greece’s applications for hosting international events to seek assurances from the authorities that the hosting of events will not be at the expense of the human rights of the residents of areas proposed to be developed. Amnesty International reiterates ECRI’s recommendation to the authorities to “provide training to police, public officials, Ombudsman, prosecutor and judges with an appreciation of problems of racism against Roma, and the need to verify, on each occasion, whether or not an offence has a racist character in order to take appropriate action.” In this regard, the organization also urges: • police authorities to ensure that racist attacks against Romani individuals perpetrated by nonstate actors, as well as complaints of ill-treatment of Roma by police officers, are fully investigated and that if enough evidence is gathered suspected perpetrators are brought to justice; • the relevant authorities to ensure that Roma, who are migrants from Albania, are not subjected to discriminatory treatment. 5.5 Recommendations regarding the protection of the rights of minorities Amnesty International urges the authorities to ensure that the provisions of Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the ECHR are fully implemented by: • ratifying the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which Greece signed in 1997; • reviewing the legislation currently in place with regard to the operation of non-governmental organizations with a view to safeguarding, in a non-discriminatory way, the rights to freedom of religion, expression and association. The organization strongly recommends that violations suffered by minority individuals as a result of discriminatory legislation is addressed. This includes: • ensuring that all of the individuals who, under such legislation have had their citizenship rights withdrawn, are fully informed about the conditions under which these decisions were taken; • facilitating the naturalization of individuals who have lost their citizenship rights in this way, including by removing relevant fees and by introducing procedures to speed up the naturalization process; • ensuring that all individuals who have lost their citizenship rights in this way regain access to the full range of social benefits they would be entitled to as Greek citizens. Amnesty International 5 October 2005 AI Index: EUR 25/016/2005