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The
Observatory has been informed by the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) about
the smear campaign in Greek media against Mr. Panayote
Dimitras, as well as about the potential criminalisation he
faces. Mr Dimitras is the GHM co-founder and spokesperson, and a member
of the OMCT’s General Assembly.
On
October 10, 2022, Greece’s largest national newspaper Kathimerini,
published an article in
both English and Greek untitled “The Turkish coast guard and the
activist: Trafficking ring with Greek connections”, revealing the
alleged involvement of human rights defenders in migrant trafficking
into East Aegean Islands.
Using
vague descriptions, including “the head of a human rights NGO” or
“Greek head of the NGO”, to avoid an explicit mention of Mr Dimitras’
name, the article reveals two criminal investigations and subsequent
criminal cases allegedly filed against him and “a national of a
Northern European country” on charges of “facilitating the entry of
third country nationals into Greek territory" under Law 4251/2014
of Greece.
On July
13 and August 24, 2021, Mr Dimitras alerted the Hellenic Police, the
Coast Guard, the Greek migration authorities, the UN Refugee Agency in
Greece and the Greek Ombudsman about the arrival of migrant individuals
in the Greek islands of Kos and Farmakonisi. Mr Dimitras sent several
emails to the above-mentioned authorities listing the names and
nationality of the migrant individuals traveling on the boats who
wanted to apply for asylum in Greece. In his emails, Mr Dimitras
explicitly mentioned that the migrant individuals had contacted the GHM
to alert the organisation about their situation, that is, their
presence on the islands, as well as their wish to apply for asylum.
However, Kathimerini’s
article portrays Mr Dimitras’ legitimate defence of human rights, and
particularly, migrants’ rights, as alleged acts of human trafficking.
According to the newspaper, Mr Dimitras and the other individual would
have cooperated with the Turkish Coast Guard to bring migrant individuals
to Greece, by exchanging “information on the time of departure of the
journey, the itinerary and the time of their arrival on the Greek
islands”. The evidence to prove the involvement of Mr Dimitras into
this alleged crime, according to the article, are the above-mentioned
emails. The article further mentions that a Cameroonian national and
alleged human trafficker traveling on the inflatable boat on July 13,
2021, would have contacted Mr Dimitras on the same day to inform him
about the details of the trip. This individual was in fact an asylum
seeker who was arbitrarily arrested by the Greek authorities after
the BBC published on July 13, 2021 a short report in which the Cameroonian man
narrated as an eye-witness and survivor, a previous push-back of
migrants in Greek waters.
The
investigations into the above-mentioned alleged acts of human
trafficking, according to the newspaper, were initiated by the Greek
Coast Guard jointly with the National Intelligence Service and were
subsequently submitted to “the relevant prosecutor’s office”. The
article states that the two criminal cases are at the hands of the
investigating judge in the city of Kos. At the time of publication of
this Urgent Appeal, Mr Dimitras had not received any summons to a
preliminary investigation nor official information about the alleged
criminal investigations and cases initiated against him.
The
Observatory strongly condemns the smear campaign against Mr Dimitras
and all migrants’ rights defenders in Greece, as well as the ongoing denial of
rights to migrants and their subsequent exposure to torture and
ill-treatment in the context of collective and illegal expulsions.
Non-governmental
organisations that work on migrants’ rights play an essential role to defend the human rights of people on
the move in a context of systematic violations of international human
rights standards by the Greek authorities, including illegal pushbacks and collective expulsions of migrants, as denounced in
2020 by the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT).The Greek state has
consistently failed to submit the information concerning the alleged
intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders and humanitarian
workers and volunteers that was required by
the UNCAT.
Yet, the
situation of migrants’ rights defenders has been critical for years.
They have consistently been targeted for their legitimate work and have
faced different types of attacks, including surveillance, judicial harassment,
smear campaigns, entry bans and expulsion of the country. The Greek
investigative authorities often leak alleged criminal investigations initiated against migrants’ rights
defenders to the media, creating a climate of fear and a chilling
effect among all rights defenders, as documented by the Observatory in
its 2021 report “Europe: Open Season on Solidarity”. In several of these cases the human
rights defenders have not been informed nor summoned to testify.
The Observatory calls on the Greek authorities
to put an end to the ongoing smear campaigns and criminalisation of
NGOs and volunteers working in the country in the field of humanitarian
assistance to migrants and asylum-seekers. The Observatory further
calls on the authorities to guarantee in all circumstances that they
are able to carry out their legitimate human rights and humanitarian
activities without fear of reprisals.
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