access. Furthermore, the carceral environment of detention centres, surrounded by high fences, barbed wire and surveillance systems, renders them compatible with prisons, and thus treatment of detainees as ‘criminals’. Information and monitoring of PRDCs in Greece is therefore challenging, providing extensive space for human rights violations to proliferate. Importantly, the CPT reports are not isolated to PRDCs, and reference detention conditions and violence which is applicable not only to people on the move, but Greek detainees too. Police violence against people in prisons has been consistently reported on, and the violence reported on in this research should be analysed in the context of a consortium of violent practices across Greece.16 Definition and Prohibition of Torture and Ill-treatment Article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment17 adopted in 1984, defines torture as : “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.” This Convention recalls the prohibition of torture previously formulated by Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights18 and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).19 The latter provision is complemented by Article 10 of the ICCPR concerning the humane treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. At the regional level, the prohibition is formulated by Article 3 of the ECHR20 and Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.21 The prohibition of torture is an absolute and non-derogable right in international law. This has been recalled by the UN Human Rights Committee in its General Comment No. 20,22 but also by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Thus, in its judgment in the case of Selmouni v. France, the ECtHR stated that: “the Convention prohibits in absolute terms torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. [...] Article 3 makes no provision for exceptions and no derogation from it is permissible under Article 15 § 2 even in the event of a public emergency threatening the life of the nation”.23 The latter is particularly relevant considering that powerful negative rhetoric - particularly around instrumentalisation - is consistently used to frame migration as a security threat, consequently providing alleged justification for exceptional measures that usually result in violent practices towards people on the move.24 The prohibition of torture is an evolving right, meaning that some acts which are not currently considered as “torture” may be in the future. In addition to the fact that the Convention is a “living instrument which must be interpreted in the light of present-day conditions”,25 the European Court recalled it in its case Selmouni v. France that “certain acts which were classified in the past as “inhuman and degrading treatment” as opposed to “torture” could be classified differently in future. It takes the view that the increasingly high standard being required in the area of the protection of human rights and fundamental liberties correspondingly and inevitably requires greater firmness in assessing breaches of the fundamental values of democratic societies”.26 Due to their already existing vulnerability, certain groups of individuals may be at greater risk of torture. This is the case for both people on the move and people in detention; the 2016 CPT report identified that ill-treatment is consistently employed by Greek police as a method of control, indicating the entrenched nature of the violence.27 In BVMN’s pushback database, over 94% of testimonies from Greece in 2022 contained one or more forms of physical violence, reiterating the systematic use and normalisation of abuse perpetrated by Greek authorities.28 Although several international and regional conventions exist to protect migrants, refugees and displaced persons, most do not contain specific provisions on torture. The 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,29 which Greece has not ratified, is one exception. 7