- 45 B. Concluding remarks 89. “The CPT has observed a steady deterioration in the living conditions and treatment of prisoners over the past decade. […] The CPT has highlighted in its reports the unsuitable material conditions, the absence of an appropriate regime and the poor provision of health care. It has found that due to the totally inadequate staffing levels, effective control within the accommodation areas of some of the prisons visited has progressively been ceded to groups of strong prisoners. All these issues are compounded by the severe overcrowding within most Greek prisons.” This was the damning assessment drawn up by the CPT when it took the extraordinary step on 15 March 2011 of issuing a public statement in respect of Greece on the situation in prisons. 90. A decade later and there has been no tangible improvement in the treatment of prisoners. During the last 10 years, the CPT has closely monitored the situation in Greece, carrying out visits to prisons on five occasions (2011, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021). Further, it has engaged actively with the Greek authorities through High Level Talks and promoting co-operation with the Council of Europe to reform the prison system. Nevertheless, there has been a continued lack of strategic direction and investment by successive governments to address the chronic crisis within prisons. The fundamental question of what kind of prison system Greece wants to operate has not been addressed. Once this question is comprehensively answered, the requisite funding and resources must be made available to see through its realisation. Far too many prisoners in Greece continue to be held in conditions which represent an affront to their human dignity. The agenda must be to ensure that prisons move away from merely warehousing persons in overcrowded, dangerous and poor conditions with no purposeful activities to places which offer decent living conditions and prepare persons for reintegration back into the community upon their release. In addition to providing adequate places for prisoners, this requires above all investing in sufficient competent staff to manage prisons and provide the requisite support to persons held in prison. This is not merely a problem to be resolved by the Ministry of Citizens Protection (which is currently responsible for prisons) but one that must be addressed by the Government, as a whole, together with the Hellenic Parliament and the judiciary. Reforming the prison system is a long-term project which must go hand-in-hand with urgently improving the daily life of prisoners. The CPT has set out in this report the strategic questions (see paragraphs 10 and 17) and issues that need to be addressed and acted upon to reform the prison system. 91. The current situation in the prisons represents a poor reflection of Greece and it runs contrary to European norms and values as enumerated in the revised European Prison Rules of 2020. The time has come for the Greek authorities to change this narrative. The CPT wishes to receive from the Greek authorities a comprehensive response to the issues set out in this report and, in particular, on how they plan to reform the prison system as a whole in accordance with European standards.