A/HRC/16/52/Add.4 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, undertook a visit to Greece from 10 to 20 October 2010, at the invitation of the Government. 2. The purpose of the visit was to assess the situation of torture and ill-treatment in the country, including conditions of detention and to initiate a process of cooperation with the Government, in particular with regard to challenges faced by the Government in addressing the high level of irregular migration into the country, a task which is particularly challenging due to the Dublin II system of transfers from European Union member States to Greece. 3. The Special Rapporteur expresses deep appreciation to the Government for extending an invitation to visit the country and the frankness of the discussions he had with the Government. He also appreciates the full cooperation extended by the authorities during the course of the visit, and would like to thank the Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights, the Ministry of Interior, Decentralization and E-Government and the the Ministry of Citizens’ Protection for issuing authorization letters providing him with access to all detention facilities. During the visit, he was able to carry out unannounced visits to places of detention and to conduct confidential interviews with selected detainees. 4. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur met with officials, civil society organizations, lawyers, detainees, aliens and victims of ill-treatment and visited prisons, police stations, border guard stations, migration detention centres and hospitals (see appendix for the list of places of detention visited). 5. The Special Rapporteur wishes to acknowledge with appreciation the excellent support provided by the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Ms. Maria Luisa Silva, and by Mr. Tsarbopoulos and Ms. Kapentana, respectively Head of the Office and Protection Assistant of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); Dr. Duarte Nuno Vieira, forensic doctor; and Tiphanie Crittin and Moritz Birk of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights. 6. While still in the country, the Special Rapporteur shared his preliminary findings with the Government, which responded with constructive comments. On 1 February 2011, a preliminary version of this report was sent to the Government. The Government provided comments on 3 March 2011. II. Legal framework A. International level 7. Greece is party to all major United Nations human rights treaties1 including the Convention against Torture, recognizes the competence of the Committee against Torture 1 4 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its two Optional Protocols, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD); the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).