US gov’t human rights report points to Greece’s challenges
The criminalization of libel, allegations of pushbacks of asylum seekers, corruption and violence targeting LGBTQI people and refugee women and children were the main human rights abuses recorded in Greece in 2018, according to a US State Department report.
Concerning corruption, the report said the government did not always implement the law effectively, noting that “officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.”
However, the Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Hellenic Police reported an 8.5 percent reduction in the number of corruption-related complaints filed in 2017 compared to 2016. Permanent and ad hoc government entities charged with combating corruption were understaffed and underfinanced, the US report added.
On the other hand, it said Greece took steps to “investigate, prosecute and punish officials who committed human rights abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere in the government.”
