Refugee Support Aegean and PRO ASYL offered their contribution to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on a series of cases decided by the ECtHR in relation to violations of human rights by Greek law enforcement bodies in the context of border management operations. The joint submission argues that the breaches of the human right to life found by the Strasbourg Court in these cases are owed to complex and systemic deficiencies that persist to date, from the 2023 Pylos shipwreck to more recent incidents. According to the accompanying press release, these issues are mainly reflected in:
- Flaws in the planning and implementation of search and rescue operations;
- Endangerment of life due to “extremely dangerous” practices, like push backs; and
- Ineffectiveness of criminal investigations by the Naval Court Prosecutor.