N. MUIZNIEKS: I have come to Greece because I have to go to all 47 Member States of the Council of Europe, and the focus of our visit is on racist violence and the role of the police, what can be done to curb racism and intolerance.
I have had excellent meetings and excellent cooperation from the authorities. There are some very good initiatives underway in various realms, but I think much more needs to be done. I think that key things that we will be looking for in the future are prosecutions of people involved in committing racist acts and concrete punishments of police if they do not do their job or themselves are accused of misconduct.
I understand it is a very difficult context with the economic crisis and the migration context and we are fully aware of this. But my job is to remind everybody of their human rights obligations: that these are not a luxury, that these are a necessity even in times of crisis and even under difficult circumstances, and we are here to see how we can help.
K. TSIARAS: We had an excellent and constructive meeting with the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Nils Muiznieks. I stressed to him our country’s firm dedication to the principles and values of human rights supported by the Council of Europe and the fact that at this critical time the confronting of human rights issues is a global, universal problem.
Xenophobia and racism are notions that are very far removed from the culture of the Greek state, and all the more so at a time when our country’s historical course shows conduct that is opposed to these phenomena. Any isolated incidents have to do with particularities that point to the fact that Greece needs Europe’s support to confront such phenomena.
Finally, we discussed the issue of illegal migration, pointing to the effort our country is making to confront it as a phenomenon, along with its side effects, through choices supported by international organizations and the Council of Europe itself. It is a fact that, in the midst of a critical economic state of affairs, all agencies have to work together so that phenomena like racism, xenophobia and illegal migration can be dealt with comprehensively.
January 31, 2013