Complex problems in Greece relating to the adequacy of resources, design and roll-out of Coast Guard operations at sea & on search and rescue

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Safi and others v Greece (Application No 5418/15)

Briefed on 15 September 2023

This case concerns the ineffective investigation into a coastguard operation in 2014 in the Aegean Sea during which eleven relatives of the migrant applicants who were aboard a fishing boat drowned (procedural violation of Article 2). The major shortcomings identified by the Court are the following: lack of investigation into the allegedly flawed translations of applicants’ statements which constituted an integral part of the case file (§§ 123-124); insufficient participation of the applicants in the criminal proceedings, who were not granted access to the recordings between the coastguards and to data from an island radar which were of significant evidentiary value; there were lines of further investigation which were clearly necessary but which were not pursued by the prosecuting authorities thus compromising their ability to shed full light on the circumstances of the sinking (§127).

The case concerns also the authorities’ concrete operational omissions and delays in order to protect the applicants’ and their relatives’ lives (substantive violation of Article 2).

Lastly, the case concerns the degrading treatment suffered by certain applicants during their public strip search by the coast guard on an outdoor basketball court on the island of Farmakonisi where they were transferred (substantive violation of Article 3).

The case is currently examined under the standard supervision procedure. The speakers, Minos Mouzourakis from Refugee Support Aegean, and Stephanos Stavros, on behalf of the Hellenic League for Human Rights, Human Rights Legal Project & I Have Rights highlighted that:

·         The violations which occurred in January 2014 are relevant through time: similar incidents e.g. in Agathonisi (2018), Pylos (2023)

·         The execution raises complex issues as regards the adequacy of resources, design and roll-out of Coast Guard operations at sea & on search and rescue procedures

·         The assessment of investigations raises complex issues pertaining to the  institutional set-up (interrogation officials, prosecutors’ approach), adequacy of selection and modalities of witness examination, assessment of evidence et al.

And therefore respectfully requested  the transfer of the Safi and Others v Greece case to the enhanced supervision procedure.