Council of Europe to help train Greek prison staff

The Justice Ministry has begun cooperating with the Council of Europe to create a special training program for prison officers aimed at improving conditions at the country’s correctional facilities.

The cooperation is the result of a move by Eftychis Fytrakis, the general secretary for crimefighting policy at the ministry. He met a few days ago with a four-member delegation from the Council of Europe to discuss how its Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) could help Greek authorities.

“For a number of years Greece has been on the receiving end of court decisions and fines for breaching human rights due to the holding conditions in its prisons,” Fytrakis told Kathimerini. “We thought we would ask for the Council of Europe’s support so they could provide the know-how to improve our correctional facilities.”

The two main issues discussed in the first meeting were training prison staff and improving medical facilities at Greece’s prisons.