Public statement concerning Greece (made on 15 March 2011) 1. Since 1993, the CPT has carried out ten visits to Greece. The Committee has consistently striven to pursue a constructive dialogue with the Greek authorities, repeatedly putting forward recommendations about the treatment and conditions of detention of persons deprived of their liberty. However, the persistent lack of action to improve the situation in the light of the Committee’s recommendations, as regards the detention of irregular migrants and the state of the prison system, has left the Committee with no other choice but to resort to the exceptional measure of issuing this public statement. 2. Already in the report on its visit to Greece in 1997, the CPT expressed concern about the approach of the Greek authorities towards the detention of irregular migrants. The Committee made it clear that detaining irregular migrants “for weeks or even months in very poorly furnished and inadequately lit and/or ventilated premises, without offering them either the possibility of daily outdoor exercise or a minimum of activities with which to occupy themselves during the day, is unacceptable and could even amount to inhuman and degrading treatment.” 3. The reports on the 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009 visits all paint a similar picture of irregular migrants being held in very poor conditions in police stations and other ill-adapted premises, often disused warehouses, for periods of up to six months, and even longer, with no access to outdoor exercise, no other activities and inadequate health-care provision. Recommendations to improve the situation nevertheless continued to be ignored. Despite significant numbers of irregular migrants entering Greece via its eastern land and sea borders over a period of years, no steps were taken to put in place a coordinated and acceptable approach as regards their detention and treatment. 4. The lack of action by the Greek authorities to implement the CPT’s recommendations concerning irregular migrants led to the Committee setting in motion, in November 2008, the procedure for adopting a public statement1. Following the periodic visit in September 2009, this procedure was extended to cover the situation in the prison system. Indeed, the findings made during that visit revealed that the concerns raised by the CPT in previous reports had not been addressed and that in fact there had been a further deterioration in prison conditions; particular reference should be made to the severe overcrowding, in conjunction with insufficient staffing levels and poor health-care provision. 5. In January 2010, the CPT held high-level talks in Athens with the Greek authorities to impress upon them the urgency of engaging in a meaningful dialogue with the Committee and of taking action to improve the conditions in which irregular migrants and prisoners are held. 1 Article 10, paragraph 2, of the Convention establishing the CPT reads as follows: “If the Party fails to cooperate 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.”