ANNUAL SPECIAL REPORT 2018
45
Thus, deprivation of personal liberty is no longer an exceptional measure
to achieve the purpose of forced expulsion, as required by Law 3907/2011
and the Return Directive. However, the policy of extended administrative
detention has exhausted its limits and is already part of the problem and
not the solution, as there is a lack of structures and expertise for ensuring
adequate guarantees for the majority of those deprived of personal liberties
in such large places.
It should be pointed out, nonetheless, that ELAS is not exclusively or perhaps even mainly at fault for the present situation. Most problems stem
from shared responsibility or combined inertia of many services, and are
interconnected due to the weaknesses along the chain of responsibilities.
Thus, for example, deficiencies in reception, recording and identification
procedures - especially in identifying a so-called vulnerability - aggravate
the overcrowding and the need for additional medical services in detention facilities.
It is down to the Greek police (ELAS), falling within its exclusive sphere of
powers, to opt for the choice of releasing a foreigner under administrative
detention when the conditions of detention are deemed substandard, instead of looking for alternatives characterised by questionable suitability
and legitimacy (articles 30.1 and 31.1 of Law 3907/2011)21.
4.b. Inspections
In 2018, the NPM carried out inspections in the following six Pre-removal
Detention Centres for third country nationals:
• Amygdaleza, Attica (7 March, 14 June),
• Moria, Lesvos (30 March, 26 April, 13 June, 25 July, 22 August, 21 November),
• Kos (5 June),
• Thessaloniki (detention facilities for foreigners that are wrongly acting as pre-removal detention centres, 24 June, 31 August, 2 September, 18 October),
• Tavros (27 September),
• Corinth (12 November).
21
In a single case, a penal court of Igoumenitsa (682/2012) decided that improper
detention conditions can even reduce the liability of an escaped detainee.
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