Head of Greek human rights body resigns citing government ‘disregard’

The head of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR), Giorgos Stavropoulos, resigned on Thursday, accusing the government of attempting to alter the balance in the composition of the independent body's committee. 

In his resignation, Stavropoulos criticized the government's decision to add five members from the LGBTQI community and two more members from the Roma community to the body’s plenary, saying the decision violates “any principle of equality” in relation to the other members of the GNCHR who only have one vote in the committee.

Stavropoulos said the body has already made “a decisive contribution” in highlighting the problems of the Roma and LGBTQI community.

“However, their excessively favorable treatment at the expense of all other defenders of human rights insults the latter, but also undermines the authority of the Commission itself, uncritically altering its composition and affecting its independence,” he added.

GNCHR is an advisory body to the Greek State on matters pertaining to human rights protection.