A/HRC/45/16/Add.1 I. Introduction 1. At the invitation of the Government, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention conducted an official visit to Greece from 2 to 13 December 2019. The Working Group was represented by José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez (Mexico, Chair-Rapporteur), Leigh Toomey (Australia, Vice-Chair) and Sètondji Roland Adjovi (Benin) and accompanied by staff from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This was the second official visit of the Working Group to Greece, the first visit having been conducted in 2013 (see A/HRC/27/48/Add.2). The Working Group would like to thank the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund for the support provided prior to and during the visit. 2. The Working Group extends its gratitude to the Government for inviting it to undertake this visit and for its fullest cooperation. This includes securing all requested meetings with stakeholders, providing relevant data and information and ensuring unimpeded access to all places of detention. This is a strong foundation for the Working Group to continue to provide advice and assistance to the authorities on detention practices. 3. The Working Group met with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Citizen Protection, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy, the Hellenic Supreme Court of Civil and Criminal Justice, the Supreme Court’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Thessaloniki, members of the Athens and Thessaloniki Bar Associations, the National Centre for Social Solidarity, the National Coordinator for Unaccompanied Minors, the Greek National Commission for Human Rights and the Greek Ombudsman. 4. The Working Group visited 21 places of deprivation of liberty in Attica (including Athens), the Peloponnese, the island of Kos in the south Aegean, Thessaloniki and eastern Macedonia and Thrace (see appendix). It was able to confidentially interview over 150 persons deprived of their liberty. 5. The Working Group also recognizes various stakeholders within the country who shared their perspectives on the arbitrary deprivation of liberty, including representatives of civil society, lawyers and individuals currently deprived of liberty. The Working Group thanks them for the information and assistance provided. 6. The Working Group shared its preliminary findings on 13 December 2019. It intends to continue its constructive dialogue with the Government on the issues presented in the present report. This report takes into account information provided by the Government on progress made since the Working Group’s previous visit, in 2013. II. Overview of the institutional and legal framework A. International human rights obligations 7. Greece is party to most major international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol; the Convention on the Rights of the Child and two of its Optional Protocols; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol. 8. Furthermore, the State has ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol thereto, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless 3