Έχω
ξαναγράψει για τα μεγάλα πρόστιμα που πληρώνουμε (εμείς οι πολίτες) για τις
βαρβαρότητες που διαπράττουν αστυνομικοί και λιμενικοί κατά των μεταναστών και
προσφύγων.
Το
ζήτημα βεβαίως δεν είναι μόνο οικονομικό αλλά και ηθικό. Στις διαφημίσεις του ΕΟΤ τα σλόγκαν τύπου 'Ζήσε το όνειρό σου στην Ελλάδα' αγγίζουν
τη γελοιότητα και, εμένα τουλάχιστον, αν και δε με ξαφνιάζουν, με γεμίζουν
ντροπή.
Θέμα
χρόνου ήταν θύμα της αστυνομικής βίας να μην είναι μόνο κάποιος αδύναμος
πρόσφυγας, κάποιος 'μαυρούκος' όπως λένε συμπονετικά οι τάχα συμπαθούντες αλλά
ένας αληθινός Ευρωπαίος της ανώτερης φυλής. Θέμα χρόνου ήταν και το πλήρωμα
ήρθε.
Ιδού το νέο, για το οποίο (ξανά) διαμαρτύρεται για το αστυνομικό μας κράτος η
Διεθνής Αμνηστία.
O Νιλς, o γερμανός
φοιtήτης που ξυλοφόρτωσαν τα ΜΑΤ,
Ο ίδιος και άλλα θύματα
της αστυνομικής βαρβαρότητας έδωσαν τις μαρτυρίες τους στην Amnesty
International . η οποία έβγαλε δήλωση όπου ζητάει η αστυνομία να αντιμετωπίσει τις
επιπτώσεις της συμπεριφοράς της.
«Δεν είχα όπλα, το
πρόσωπό μου ήταν ακάλυπτο, βρισκόμουν μόνος μου σε μια γωνία σηκώνοντας τα χέρια
ψηλά για να δείξω ότι είμαι άοπλος. Απλά με χτύπησαν με τα γκλομπ. Δεν έκανα τίποτα,
δεν είπα τίποτα. Όταν βρέθηκα στο έδαφος φωνάζοντας άρχισαν να με χτυπάνε περισσότεροι
αστυνομικοί. Κρύβομαι τώρα σε σπίτι ορισμένων καλών Ελλήνων.
Τι χώρα είναι αυτή
στην οποία πρέπει να φοβάσαι την αστυνομία;»
έγραψε ο νεαρός Γερμανός
φοιτητής που ξυλοφόρτωσαν τα ΜΑΤ, στο Facebook.
DOCUMENT - GREECE:
UNLAWFUL POLICE VIOLENCE DURING PROTESTS MUST END AND PERPETRATORS HELD
ACCOUNTABLE
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
21 November 2014
AI Index: EUR
25/009/2014
Greece: Unlawful
police violence during protests must end and perpetrators held accountable
Amnesty
International is deeply concerned over reports of excessive use of force and
misuse of less-lethal weapons against protesters, ill-treatment of bystanders
and attacks against photojournalists and journalists by riot police during and
after demonstrations in Athens on 13 and 17 November 2014.
Amnesty
International spoke to seven protesters, one photojournalist, one journalist
and one bystander that found themselves at the receiving end of police violence
during the latest demonstrations and reviewed audiovisual material and press
articles to establish any human rights violations committed. The numerous
allegations of excessive use of force received confirm that little action has
been taken by Greek authorities to address the culture of abuse and impunity in
the Greek police.
The organization
is particularly concerned by continued attacks against journalists and
photojournalists covering protests, which apart from the impact on their rights
to physical integrity and to be free from ill-treatment, further have a
detrimental effect upon freedom of expression.
Amnesty
International urges the Greek authorities to put an end to excessive use of
force by riot police and ensure perpetrators are held accountable.
Allegations of
abuses during the policing of the commemorative demonstration for the
anniversary of the 1973 student uprising
During the
commemorative protest of 17 November in Athens for the 41st anniversary of the
Polytechnic students’ uprising against the Military Junta in 1973, riot police
reportedly used excessive force against a group of peaceful protesters on
Vassilisis Sofias Avenue in central Athens and sprayed them with chemical
irritants from a close range.
A video widely
shown in the media documents, amongst other things, a riot police officer,
without provocation, pushing a protester who subsequently challenges him
verbally; another police officer hitting a peaceful protester with his shield,
who apparently tried to intervene; and other riot police officers spraying the
protesters with chemical irritants from a very close range.
A., a 17 year-old
female pupil who has asthma, told Amnesty International that she was walking
with a friend during the demonstration, which was peaceful. She then heard a
bang in front of them and riot police sprayed her and other protesters, who
were standing on a pavement, twice on the face with chemical irritants. A. told
Amnesty International: “I told the police that I was feeling unwell and that I
was an asthma sufferer. They looked at me and laughed….We felt like burning….Another
protester saved my life by dragging me from there and getting me to a fast food
shop behind Hilton hotel…” A. was transferred by her father, who was also at
the demonstration, to a nearby hospital where she received medical treatment
for her breathing difficulties.
Later that
evening, police including many officers of the DELTA unit on their motorbikes
reportedly chased protesters in the Exarheia district of central Athens. During
the clashes that ensued, testimonies gathered by Amnesty International and news
reports speak of excessive use of force against protesters and bystanders, misuse
of less lethal weapons including chemical irritants and stunt grenades, attacks
against journalists and destruction of private property.
N, an Erasmus
student from Germany described to Amnesty International how he was beaten
randomly by riot police in the Exarheia district where he had gone with some
other students to buy food.
N. said: “…
It was peaceful
but in a few minutes the place was full [of demonstrators and police]... We
wanted to go home but the streets we normally take were blocked by police and
we were scared of them because some weeks ago we had seen them beating up a man
they had arrested… We looked for other streets but they were also blocked and
suddenly we heard noises, there were bangs and light. We ran down another
street until we noticed that it was also blocked by the police. I lost my
friends and stood in a corner, hoping the police would not see me. I saw some
policemen look at me and I raised my hands to show that I had no weapons...
Then, between five and six officers came towards me and started beating me with
their batons…I was lying on the ground, and they kept hitting me, and I was
screaming from pain. Then they left me, I was lying in an embryonic position
and then some other policemen came to me just to beat me up again…I had no
weapons, I was no threat to anyone, I was unmasked, I did not say or provoke
them in any way…The thing that makes me so angry is that they tried to hit my
face all the time.. They could have easily ruined my eyesight…” N. said that
after his beating a man came to his assistance and later on he was transferred
by ambulance to Evangelismos hospital. N. was mainly injured in the area
between and around the eyes and his nose. Five days after the attack, N. told
Amnesty International that he still has a strong headache.
In addition, a
video widely publicized in the Greek media shows riot police hitting with their
batons a man working in a kiosk at Exarheia square after he protested that
police officers had taken away some bottled waters from the kiosk without paying.
Antonis Diniakos,
a journalist from VICE told Amnesty International that DELTA police officers
attacked him in the district of Exarheia, while he was recording with his
mobile phone an incident of police intimidating some people in the area. The journalist
was accompanied by Thanasis Troboukis, VICE’S editor in chief and Lefteris
Bidelas, a colleague from Ethnos newspaper, and had gone to the area to cover
clashes between police and protesters. Antonis Diniakos described that he was
recording the intimidation incident with his mobile phone, when a DELTA police
officer hit his leg with the front wheel of his motorbike, seemingly in order
to intimidate him. The journalist said that as a result of the pain he felt he
pushed with his leg the front wheel of the bike and protested over his
treatment. Between two and three police officers then abandoned their
motorbikes, ran towards him and threw him to the ground. The journalist said
that while he was pushed to the ground one of the police officers fell on him
and immobilized him by holding his throat with his hand and he started swearing
at him. The police officers left Antonis Diniakos alone only when he and his
two colleagues stated that they were accredited journalists. The journalist
said that he still suffers from pain on his leg and that the doctors who
treated him in the hospital found cuts on his hand and bruises on his back.
Allegations of
abuses during protests against the Law School lock-out
Similar reports of
excessive use of force, misuse of less-lethal weapons and attacks against
journalists were also received during student protests on 13 November against
the decision of university authorities to keep the Law School of the University
of Athens closed for the days ahead of the Polytechnic uprising anniversary.
Konstantina was
among a group of 30 to 40 students who stood outside the Athens Law School
entrance on Massalias Street around 8 am that morning in order to protest over
the university lock-out. She told Amnesty International that, suddenly, riot
police started to push them with their shields and kick the students in order
to remove them from Massalias Street.
Later that
morning, two students sustained serious injuries in what they described to
Amnesty International and on national media as an unprovoked attack by riot
police in a street near the Athens Law School. Yiannis, one of the two, told
Amnesty International that he was attacked by a riot police unit from behind
while he was talking on his mobile phone walking along a street next to the
Athens University Rectorship Building which is near the Athens Law School. The
student told Amnesty International how he was beaten and kicked by riot police,
that he was thrown on the ground and that when he attempted to stand up he was
hit on his eye with a baton. Some other students, he was walking with were also
reportedly attacked by riot police at the same time. Yiannis reported that he
suffered cuts and bruises all over his body and an injury on his eye, which was
treated at the nearby Eye Hospital. Pictures of his eye injury were widely
published by national media.
According to
information received by Amnesty International, riot police left the scene
without providing any medical assistance to the injured students, who were
subsequently transferred to the hospital by other students who had run to
assist them.
Amnesty
International received reports of further incidents of police violence against
students participating at a demonstration, in the evening of 13 November,
against the University lock-out and the police violence around the Law School
earlier that day.
According to the
testimonies received, news reports and supporting audiovisual material, the
attack took place at the end of the route of the student demonstration as the
students had arrived at the Athens Polytechnic school on Stournari Street and
forced open the locked gates in order to have a meeting about further actions
over the lock-out. While many students managed to enter the university seeking
protection, those who did not were reportedly subjected to police beatings and
were sprayed with chemical irritants.
Yiannis Liakos, a
photojournalist covering the protest, told Amnesty International that a riot
police officer hit him on the forehead with a baton while he was taking
pictures of the attack against the students in the entrance of the Athens
Polytechnic School. Yiannis Liakos described the attack against the students as
unprovoked, and explained that riot police sprayed the students with chemical
irritants from a short distance and started beating with batons a group of,
mainly female, students. According to media reports around 40 protesters sought
medical treatment at the hospital following the attack against them on
Stournari Street.
Investigations
Amnesty
International understands that criminal and disciplinary investigations started
into the reported attacks against the photojournalists and journalists during
the demonstrations of 13 and 17 November 2014. The organization also
understands that an Athens prosecutor ordered a preliminary criminal
investigation into the video showing riot police using excessive force against
a kiosk worker protesting for the theft of bottled water. A disciplinary
investigation into the incident has also been ordered by the Greek police.
However, no investigation has been announced over the reported excessive use of
force against the students and other protesters during these demonstrations.
Recommendations
Amnesty
International urges the Greek authorities to:
Conduct prompt,
thorough, impartial and effective investigations into all allegations of
excessive use of force and human rights violations by law enforcement officials
during the demonstrations on 13 and 17 November 2014 and ensure perpetrators
are held accountable;
Ensure that during
the policing of demonstrations force is used only to the extent necessary, and
only when non- or less violent means have failed or are unlikely to achieve the
legitimate object. Batons and similar impact equipment should not be used on
people who are unthreatening and non-aggressive. Where baton use is
unavoidable, law enforcement officers must have clear orders to avoid causing
serious injury and that the vital parts of the body are excluded as target
zones;
Prohibit the
dispersal of toxic chemical irritants by law enforcement officers that would
increase the risk of unnecessary harm or unwarranted injury or death to
persons, such as firing a metal cartridge of irritant directly at an
individuals, using toxic chemicals in very high concentrations, using irritants
in a manner likely to have indiscriminate effects such as when sprat or fired
over a wide area, launching such chemicals at or near people who are in
confined spaces where exists and ventilation points are restricted, or
launching the irritants near elderly people, children or others who may have
difficulty in moving away to avoid the dangerous effects of the toxic
chemicals;
Finally, Amnesty
International reiterates its calls for the establishment of a truly independent
and effective police complaints mechanism and for riot police officers to wear
individual number tags not only on their helmets but also on other parts of
their uniform, and which are clearly visible.
Background
Amnesty
International recognizes that policing demonstrations can be challenging and that
law enforcement officials are sometimes required to use lawful force to
maintain order and prevent crime. However, in carrying out their duties they
must adhere to international law and standards.
On the use of
force, Article 3 of the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials states
“[l]aw enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to
the extent required for the performance of their duty”. The use of force during
non-violent public assemblies should be avoided. Where necessary, it should be
restricted to the minimum required for the achievement of the legitimate
objective, and in compliance with the principle of proportionality.
Toxic chemical are
often described as non-lethal but in fact can have lethal effects so are better
described as “less-lethal weapons”. Serious and unwarranted injuries can also
result from the use of chemical irritants. The irritants rapidly produce “disabling
physical effects” through sensory irritation of the eyes and upper respiratory
tract which are supposed to usually disappear within a relatively short time.
Physical effects of chemical irritants can include tearing of the eyes,
breathing difficulties, coughing, choking sensations, chemical burns, vomiting,
suffocation, severe allergic reaction and blistering of the skin depending on
the chemical mixtures and concentrations.
Thus, chemical
irritants should not be used in high concentration. Such weapons can have
indiscriminate effects when sprayed or fired in canister over a wide area and
can cause panic leading to stampeding so should not be used where people are
confined in an area. There are certain contexts in which such weapons should
never be used. These include as a means of dispersing a peaceful assembly,
where there are older people, children or other who may have difficulty in
moving away to avoid the chemicals, or in confined spaces.
*******************************
___________________________________________
For recent further information and extensive recommendations to the Greek authorities for the policing of demonstrations see:
END/
Public Document
International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK
