March, 30 2009, 09:16am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
AIUSA media office,Email:,media@aiusa.org,Phone: 202-544-0200 x302
In Investigating December Riots, Greece Must Address "Entrenched Pattern" of Police Abuse, Charges Amnesty International
As the events during the violent demonstrations
that rocked Greece in recent months come under police and judicial investigations,
Amnesty International calls on the Greek authorities to take the opportunity
to address long-standing problems of policing.
LONDON
As the events during the violent demonstrations
that rocked Greece in recent months come under police and judicial investigations,
Amnesty International calls on the Greek authorities to take the opportunity
to address long-standing problems of policing.
In a briefing published today, Greece:
Alleged abuses in the policing of demonstrations, Amnesty International
highlights patterns of alleged human rights violations by police against
civilians, including excessive use of force and firearms, torture or other
ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and denial of prompt access to lawyers.
"Time and again police officers in Greece
have been accused of using excessive force against demonstrators or denying
them their rights when in detention. The police response to the recent
unrest is the culmination of an entrenched pattern of serious human rights
violations by law enforcement officials," said Nicola Duckworth, Europe
and Central Asia program director at Amnesty International.
The killing of 15-year-old Alexis Gregoropoulos
by an officer serving as a special guard on December 6, 2008 sparked widespread
demonstrations that in many cases developed into riots.
Since the end of the demonstrations last
January, Amnesty International has been receiving mounting allegations
of violations by police. The human rights organization has brought a number
of cases from December 2008 and January 2009 to the attention of the Minister
of the Interior, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, in which police officers were said
to have arbitrarily arrested, ill-treated and detained peaceful demonstrators
and detainees, including minors were prevented from promptly contacting
their lawyers.
"These incidents should be used as a catalyst
by the government to launch a wide-ranging commission of inquiry that would
investigate not only recent events but also systemic issues, including
training of police on the use of firearms and of force," Duckworth said
Amnesty International notes that the Greek
authorities have both a responsibility and an obligation under international
law to ensure the safety and security of people and property and acknowledges
the difficulties faced by law enforcement officials while policing violent
demonstrations. It is also the duty of the authorities under international
law to ensure that the policing of demonstrations is carried out in a manner
that complies with international standards, including those on the use
of force.
Amnesty International urges the Greek authorities
to address the patterns of abuses which have led to a lack of public confidence
in policing.
"The people of Greece have the right to
proper policing in accordance with the government's national and international
obligations," Duckworth said.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning
grassroots activist organization with more than 2.2 million supporters,
activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human
rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses,
educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever
justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans and pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes, a move the White House described as "the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
But the president's sweeping use of his clemency power as his term nears its conclusion did not appear to extend to any of the 40 men currently on death row—some of whom have been there for decades.
According to a White House fact sheet, those who received commutations "have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the Covid-era CARES Act," a law that extended the amount of time in which people could be placed in home confinement to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons.
The White House did not name those who received pardons or commutations but said the list includes a "decorated military veteran," a "nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters," and "an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose."
The Biden Justice Department paused federal executions in 2021, but President-elect Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to expand the use of the death penalty and is expected to allow the executions of the 40 men on death row to take place if they're still there when he takes office next month.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden said that he has "the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses."
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Biden, who campaigned on ending the death penalty at the federal level, vowed to "take more steps in the weeks ahead" as his administration reviews clemency petitions, leaving open the possibility of commutations for death row prisoners.
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Despite the Pentagon's repeated failures to pass audits and various alarming policies, 81 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with 200 Republicans on Wednesday to advance a $883.7 billion annual defense package.
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Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, "Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home."
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