On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights ruled to condemn Greece in the case of the deaths of 11 migrants, including children and infants, who drowned in the Aegean Sea in 2014.
The incident occurred in January 2014, when the Greek coast guard intervened against a boat carrying irregular migrants from Afghanistan, Syria and Palestine.
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The court decided that Athens had violated Article 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that every person has the right to life and may not be subjected to torture or to be treated in an inhumane manner.
The court statement noted that Greece had violated the migrants’ right to life and treated them inhumanely.
The statement pointed out that the investigation showed a contradiction between the statements of those responsible for the incident about their lack of knowledge of the migrants’ language and the statements recorded after the incident.
The investigation also showed that the Greek Coast Guard teams did not provide life jackets to the migrants, did not bring in a larger boat to evacuate them, and they delayed informing their subordinates of the incident.
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The statement stated that the migrants who survived the incident were forced to take off their clothes in an open place in front of a large number of security officials, violating the migrants’ right to humane treatment.
The statement confirmed that the surviving migrants were also subjected to ill-treatment after being transported to land.
The court fined the Greek authorities 330,000 euros in compensation for the accident.
According to the court statement, the incident occurred on January 20, 2014, when the Greek Coast Guard intervened against a boat carrying irregular migrants from Afghanistan, Syria and Palestine.
According to the statements of Greek officials, the boat capsized due to the movement of migrants while towing, while the testimony of a witness from the migrants showed that the boat sank after Greek officials cut the rope during the process of towing the boat.
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The statements of the rest of the migrants who survived the incident also showed that some of the migrants referred to infants.
They pleaded for help to save them after the boat capsized, but Greek officials responded with insults.
The court statement also said that Greek officials had warned the surviving migrants not to talk about the incident.
