58 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 April, the death of a 20-year-old man of Albanian origin in a cell at the Ilion police station in Athens sparked debate about the reported increase in the number of apparent suicides and drug-related deaths occurring in custody in Greece. An investigation was launched into how the man died, after his mother disputed the explanation by the police that he had hanged himself. integration were inconsistent. AI called on Greece to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and made specific recommendations to the authorities as to how to address the concerns raised in the report. By the end of the period under review no response to the report or its recommendations had been received from the authorities. Trafficking in human sexual exploitation Denial of refugee protection beings for On 2 February, the UN Committee for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women recommended that Greece “increase its efforts to prevent human trafficking and provide assistance and support to women victims”. AI launched a report on the subject, Greece: Uphold the rights of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation (AI Index: EUR 25/002/2007) on 12 June. AI was concerned that trafficked women and girls remained unidentified as such by the Greek authorities; that because of this they were subsequently unable to exercise their rights to protection and assistance; that many remained at risk of detention on suspicion of offences such as unlicensed prostitution or illegal entry into Greece, or of deportation without risk assessment to countries where they were at risk of further human rights abuses including re-trafficking; and that those who were correctly identified as trafficked were offered protection beyond the initial period for recovery and reflection only if they agreed to cooperate in legal proceedings against their suspected traffickers. Meanwhile, helplines for trafficked women, guidelines for police officers in recognizing them, and witness protection remained inadequate. The recovery and reflection period was not long enough for women to begin recovering from their experience and make informed decisions about their future; trials of suspected traffickers were protracted, adding to the psychological strain they experienced; and access to reparations and subsequent health care and assistance with Amnesty International The long-awaited new legislation on asylum remained in draft form. Lawyers reported to AI that in practice asylum-seekers could expect their application to be rejected at first instance. Incidents where groups of people arriving in Greece to seek asylum were detained or forcibly expelled - without access to asylum procedures and without having their cases individually examined continued to be regularly reported. Harassment defender of human rights In January AI published its concerns about the possible extradition from Greece to Pakistan of human rights defender and President of the Pakistani Community in Athens, Javed Aslam (see Greece: Investigation not Extradition: Threatened return of human rights defender to Pakistan highlights failures in investigation of alleged abduction,AI Index: EUR 25/001/2007). The organization was concerned that the Interpol warrant for Javed Aslam’s arrest originating in Pakistan may have constituted a tactic of judicial harassment against him to prevent him from defending the rights of six other Pakistani nationals in Greece who alleged that they had been abducted by agents of the Greek intelligence services in the aftermath of the London bombings of 7 July 2005 (see AI Index: EUR 01/007/2006). In March, the Supreme Court upheld a unanimous decision of the Athens Appeals Committee that Javed Aslam should not be extradited to Pakistan. However, in April, the AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007