CCPR/C/126/D/2582/2015
1.1
The author of the communication is G.I., a national of Albania of Roma origin born
on 6 August 1960. At the time the communication was submitted, the author resided in
Greece; he currently resides in Albania. He claims that by forcibly evicting him from the
Makrygianni settlement in Patras, Greece, in 2006, the State party has violated his rights
under articles 7 and 17 (1) and (2); and 23 (1), 26 and 27, each read alone and in
conjunction with articles 2 (1), (2) and (3), of the Covenant. The Optional Protocol entered
into force for Greece on 5 August 1997. The author is represented by counsel.
1.2
On 6 July 2015, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new
communications and interim measures, denied the State party’s request to split the
consideration of the admissibility and the merits of the communication.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
In August 2004, the author and other Albanian Roma were evicted from the
Riganokampos settlement in Patras. After the eviction, the author moved to Makrygianni,
another Roma settlement in Patras. The living conditions in the two settlements were
similar. In Makyrgianni, the author lived in a shed and had no access to electricity, sewage,
garbage disposal or running water. In 2004, the Adviser on Quality of Life to the Prime
Minister of Greece described Makrygianni as “the worst of the 75 settlements throughout
the country” and “an insult to our humanity”.
2.2
In July 2006, the author and other Albanian Roma were evicted from Makrygianni
and then moved to Athens. They lived in the Roma settlement of Votanikos, but were
evicted in June 2007. Subsequent evictions led them to spread around in various areas of
Greater Athens and Attica. The local authorities in Patras bragged about these mass
evictions, which were widely reported in the local media.
2.3
The evictions triggered an urgent visit by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for
Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, following an invitation from the author’s present
counsel, who represented all Roma communities in the two settlements. The author’s
counsel accompanied the Commissioner to the Riganokampos and Makrygianni settlements,
and on 1 December 2006 the Commissioner addressed a letter to the Minister of the Interior
concerning the situation of the Roma in Greece. Regarding conditions in Riganokampos
and Makrygianni, the Commissioner stated in his letter: “I saw Roma families living in very
poor conditions. Also, I met with a family whose simple habitat had been bulldozed away
that same morning … I would like to request further information on the measures taken to
compensate and relocate Roma families after eviction or ‘administrative suspension’ and on
their security of tenure in current housing.” The Greek authorities failed to respond to this
letter, and did not respond to a subsequent letter from the Commissioner concerning the
forced evictions in 2007 from Votanikos in Athens.1
2.4
On 13 December 2006, the author’s counsel filed a criminal complaint with the first
instance prosecutor’s office in Patras, in relation to the evictions. As a result, a preliminary
judicial investigation was initiated. On 11 January, 23 January and 23 February 2007, the
author’s counsel filed submissions for 76 Roma, including the author, to be constituted as
civil claimants in the criminal proceedings. Each of the claimants sought €33 as
compensation for damage. The criminal complaint named the Mayor and two Deputy
Mayors of Patras as defendants and alleged that they had publicly boasted about their
“cleaning operation” to evict the Roma. The Mayor and two Deputy Mayors were then
indicted for alleged violations of articles 13 (a) and 263 (a) of the Criminal Code.
Specifically, they were accused of having breached with malice aforethought their duty of
service as State officials, with a view to bestowing an illegal benefit on others. In the
indictment, it was alleged that the violation had occurred when the three defendants had
formed demolition crews on 27 July 2006 in Makrygianni and on 15 September 2006 in
Riganokampos and had ordered the demolition of makeshift homes inhabited by Roma in
those settlements. It was also stated in the indictment that the defendants had contravened
Presidential Decree 267 2/21-8/1998, which states that the demolition of illegal dwellings
1
2
The author cites a letter from the Commissioner dated 8 March 2010 addressed to the Deputy
Minister of the Interior.