I will be out all day so I leave you with links to the Athens News.
Prejudice and racism continue in Greece. There have been some improvements over the last decade but as Jordian says

Let’s get real, there is a racism problem in Greece, and I can only imagine what people say about me behind my [...]

UN Independent Expert on minority issues commences visit to Greece
08 September 2008
Geneva: At the invitation of the Government Greece, the United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues, Ms. Gay McDougall, will undertake a country visit to Greece from 08 to 16 September 2008,
The Independent Expert will consult with the senior Government officials, representatives [...]

i am just one person.
i am just one small voice
i am just one mum
i am just one daughter
i am just one sister
i am just one blogger
i am just one woman
i am just one human being
but i speak to another single person
i join a chorus of other small voices
i speak with hundreds of other mums
i stand [...]

Don’t forget Bloggers Unite Human Rights is tomorrow, Thursday 15th May 2008. Write a post and link it here. Spread the word by putting a badge on your blog. Make a donation to a local Human Rights organisation. Write your thoughts in a comment on a participating blog. If you don’t have a blog, you [...]

Each year I have hesitated before posting the State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Greece. Why ? Because of the standard comments I get for doing so. I know what they will be (these are real comments).

Whats the use of this report?

Haven’t we had enough of hypocrisy by the US already?

That’s all [...]

Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) expresses great satisfaction with today’s European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) unanimous conviction of Greece in the Case of Alexandridis v. Greece. The application No. 19516/2006 was submitted to the ECtHR by GHM and concerned GHM’s legal counselor Theodore Alexandridis. According to the ECtHR, Greece violated Articles 9 (freedom of thought, [...]

Today is Human Rights Day and marks the start of a year-long commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It is our duty to ensure that these rights are a living reality — that they are known, understood and enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. It is often those who most need their [...]

Via Greek Helsinki Monitor
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Greece in the case of Dimitris Zelilof, who was ill-treated/beaten by police back in December 2001. He was awarded 19,000 euros for damages as well as costs and damages. After the ruling, Zelilof said

I am happy that the European Court vindicated me after [...]

Does any of this sound depressingly familiar to those of us who lived through the Athens Olympics 2004 ?
From the Guardian

Olympic site Gypsies fight removal
Families of Gypsies and Travellers launched a legal challenge today over plans to move them to make way for the Olympic village.
Their lawyers asked a high court judge to rule [...]

Important information from the Greek Helsinki Monitor over the past week which I have missed posting for one reason or another…
Patras Roma evictions
Roma rights
Migrants risk death
Human trafficking
Human Rights in Greece
Go and download (word documents) and read…
Technorati: human rights, greece, roma, trafficking,

The US state department country report for Greece 2006 has been published. I blogged the report on religious freedom in September and began the article with this statement. I am copy/pasting it here because I believe it is relevant.

Every year the US State Department (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor) issues an International Religious [...]

In September 2006, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, visited Greece to investigate the illegal evictions of Roma families from Makrygiannis and Riganocampos near Patras. His letter, dated December 2006 and addressed to the Greek government, has now been made public.
Excerpts from the letter:

The right to adequate housing is a fundamental [...]

2007 has been marked as European Year of Equal Opportunities for All but what does that mean for the approximately 10 million Roma living in Europe ? The LA Times has an article on the challenges facing our society during this “Decade of Roma Inclusion” (2005-2015).

If a society recognizes itself, and ultimately critiques itself, on [...]

Today is International Migrants Day. Many people become confused when talking about migrants, refugees and asylum seekers especially since those terms have become entangled with the word “illegal”. So I thought today would be a good day for people to really look at the meaning of those labels and the rights that each of those [...]

One idea for what to do on Human Rights day. Add Irrepressible Info to your blog.

Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information.
The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT [...]