ATHENS, Greece—Europe’s leading human rights body has slammed conditions in Greek prisons and criticized the handling of police abuse allegations, describing dramatic circumstances for the country’s detainees and saying not enough improvements have been made despite repeated recommendations.
The situation in Greece’s prisons has “further deteriorated to the point where lives are being lost,” the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture said in a 76-page report released Tuesday, based on a visit to the country last April by a delegation from the group.
It cited severe overcrowding, with some prisons at double their capacity, a lack of health care and major staff shortages as well as often appalling hygienic conditions.
“Currently, many prisons in Greece are merely acting as warehouses in which to hold people until they are eligible to be released back into the community,” the report said. “It is high time to change the way prisons function in Greece.”
Over the years, the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly ruled against Greece in complaints filed by inmates claiming inhuman and degrading treatment in the country’s detention facilities. The Committee for the Prevention of Torture had equally criticized conditions, most recently in reports in 2014 and 2012, each time saying its recommendations for improvements hadn’t been implemented.
“The situation has now deteriorated to the point where over and above the serious ill-treatment concerns ..., there are very real right to life issues ... in as much as vulnerable prisoners are not being cared for and, in some cases, are being allowed to die,” the report said.
