Greece: Visits & Communications
Correspondence from 2003
The record of correspondence for 2003 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, E/CN.4/2003/Add.1.
Communications sent
On 18 September 2002, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, sent a letter of allegation relating to the following cases.
Bledar Qoshku, a 23-year-old man from Babje village, Librazhd district, Albania, was reportedly shot dead by border police in the early hours of 1 November 2000. According to police sources, Mr. Qoshku was leading a group of six other men who had paid him to guide them across the border, when they were located by a thermal camera. Mr. Qoshku was allegedly armed with a Kalashnikov with a sawed-off barrel. It is reported that when he realized that he had been spotted, he pointed his gun at the patrol to shoot, but was dazzled by the projector lights directed at him. He was allegedly shot by the patrol before he could fire. The six other migrants were reportedly taken to Florina for questioning and later released and returned to Albania. This account was reportedly disputed in Albanian press reports which cited statements by members of the group who denied that Mr. Qoshku was armed. One of them, Haqif Riza Kurta, reportedly claimed that, while in police custody in Florina, the police beat him and the other members of the group to make them confess that Mr. Qoshku had a Kalashnikov. The Special Rapporteurs have been informed that, according to the prosecuting authorities in Kastoria, an investigation had concluded that when the Greek border guards sighted the group they ordered them in halt to Albanian. Mr Qoshku, however, pointed the Kalashnikov, loaded and primed, at the guards who shot him in self-defence. According to this investigation, all six members of the group had testified in Greece that Mr. Qoshku was armed. The case was accordingly dismissed and filed, a decision that was subsequently confirmed by the Appeals Prosecutor of Western Macedonia.
Gentjan Çelniku, a 20-year-old migrant from Albania, reportedly died after being shot in the head by a police officer during an identity check at a cafeteria in central Athens on 21 November 2001. The Special Rapporteurs have been informed that according to a police report on the incident, the police officer observed Mr. Çelniku, a suspected violent criminal, making a suspicious movement. When the officer attempted to handcuff the young man, his pistol accidentally went off. However, at a hearing before an investigating judge on 23 November, the officer reportedly stated that when he saw Mr. Çelniku put his hand into his jacket he approached him, pistol in hand, warning him not to move, whereupon Mr. Çelniku kicked his hand, causing the pistol to discharge. Concerns were raised as to the impartiality of the investigation in this case. The officer in question was reportedly detained and charged with reckless homicide, but was released on 23 November on bail. According to the information received, he was not suspended from duty pending investigation, despite the gravity of the charge against him and the fact that he had taken part in this operation against the orders of his superior. The police authorities allegedly ordered an administrative inquiry, but as far as the Special Rapporteurs are aware, disciplinary proceedings relating to the inquiry have not been concluded.
Correspondence from 1983-2002
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has been corresponding with Governments regarding alleged violations since the mandate was established over two decades ago. While the Project on Extrajudicial Executions is making efforts to provide easily browsed versions of as many years as possible, much of the earlier correspondence is available only in the PDF versions of reports from 1983 to the present.