CCPR/C/118/D/2242/2013
2.3
On 4 September 2012, a prosecutorial decision 9 to demolish the 42 lodgings
registered as illegal in 1995 and 1996 was issued. 10 It was planned that the demolition
would take place on 18 September 2012, however it was not carried out because the
President of the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal issued an injunction on 17
September 2012, following a motion for annulment that had been filed on behalf of the
second author and other residents of the settlement. On 12 November 2012, the same
tribunal rejected the motion as inadmissible, 11 considering that the decision ordering the
demolition did not have an executable character, because it was a simple enforcement act of
the decisions in 1995 and 1996 that had ordered the demolition.
2.4
According to the authors, the only decisions with an executable character are those
issued in 1995 and 1996 by the urban planning authorities. They consider that no legal
remedy remains available. They also acknowledge that all their lodgings (of about 65 Roma
families) are illegal. However, they have not abandoned them because they do not have the
means to find alternative housing and expect the State party to relocate them. They add that
the authorities have repeatedly stated that the existing lodgings in the settlement do not
meet the standards for adequate housing, as they do not have electricity or running water.
2.5
On 14 December 2012, the committee created by the Ombudsman met with the
second author and the Ombudsman herself, and decided to allocate a plot of 30,000 square
metres adjacent to the current settlement and belonging to the State, for relocation.12 The
authors question the willingness of the State party to implement this decision. On 26
February 2013, they learned that the Secretary-General of the Decentralized Administration
of Attica had scheduled the demolition of the 42 illegal lodgings — those registered as
illegal in 1995 and 1996 — for 14 May 2013.13
2.6
A parliamentary question by a Member of Parliament was tabled on 9 April 2013,
requesting the Minister of the Interior to indicate whether he would revoke the decision to
demolish the lodgings until such time as an adequate place for relocation had been
identified. On 30 April 2013, the Minister answered that the State could not fund Roma
housing projects because of the financial crisis, and indicated that he had sent a letter to the
Secretary-General of the Decentralized Administration of Attica requesting specific
information in order to inform Parliament.14 The authors consider that as a result of that
letter, the Secretary-General of the Decentralized Administration of Attica felt obliged to
issue a decision on 16 April 2013 and published it in “Diavgeia” 15 on 23 April 2013,
indicating that the entire settlement would be temporarily relocated to an available and
undeveloped public property adjacent to the settlement, located in the Nomismatokopeio
area. The decision indicated that the demolition would take place when certain
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
No further information is provided in this regard.
The authors claim that this decision was taken without updating the list from 1995-1996. They
indicate that a quarter of the persons had passed away, and that some of the lodgings had been
demolished by their residents and/or had been replaced by other lodgings with a different location
and/or dimensions.
Judgment 1040/2012.
The authors note that this area has been available since even before 1999 when the demolition of their
illegal lodgings was decided, but that it took more than 12 years for the authorities to take such a
decision. The authors provide an aerial photo showing the current settlement and the area for
relocation on which there exist two illegal sports facilities.
The authors provided an unofficial translation of this decision.
Available from www.hellenicparliament.gr/Koinovouleftikos-Elenchos/Mesa-KoinovouleutikouElegxou?pcm_id=2b4c372d-fd38-45ea-98d8-54611460a2c8.
Available from
http://et.diavgeia.gov.gr/f/all/ada/%CE%92%CE%95%CE%91%CE%96%CE%9F%CE%
A11%CE%9A-%CE%96%CE%943.
3