ATHENS, Greece — A high European human rights official urged Greek authorities Tuesday to handle claims of negligence in a 2023 boat catastrophe that killed a whole lot of migrants off the coast of southern Greece.
Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, cited current findings by Greece’s Ombudsman that maintained Greek coast guard officers failed to forestall one of many Mediterranean’s deadliest migrant shipwrecks.
A whole bunch of migrants died when the Adriana, an overcrowded fishing trawler, sank in worldwide waters off Pylos in southern Greece in June 2023. Survivors declare the Greek coast guard failed to reply to preliminary misery calls earlier than the vessel capsized – an assertion strongly disputed by the federal government.
Greek Ombudsman Andreas Pottakis discovered “clear indications” that senior coast guard officers disregarded imminent hazard to the migrants.
“The Commissioner, who liaises carefully with the Ombudsman, notes his vital findings and encourages the authorities to take resolute motion to make sure applicable prison and disciplinary accountability,” O’Flaherty’s workplace stated in a report Tuesday.
A duplicate of the report was supplied to The Related Press.
Throughout his go to to Greece final week, O’Flaherty met with 5 authorities ministers and Cupboard officers in addition to shipwreck survivors, their attorneys and advocacy teams.
An estimated 500-750 individuals have been aboard the Adriana when it sank whereas touring from Libya to Italy. Solely 104 individuals survived, whereas 82 our bodies have been recovered. The remaining have been trapped contained in the sinking trawler.
The federal government final week reaffirmed its full confidence within the coast guard’s efforts to guard Greece’s maritime borders and rescue operations at sea. It argued that the Ombudsman’s report had unfairly accepted allegations made by survivors “with none dependable documentation.”
A court docket in southern Greece final 12 months dismissed a case in opposition to 9 Egyptian shipwreck survivors accused of inflicting the sinking, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction as a result of the incident occurred in worldwide waters. ___
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