I would be grateful if you would let me know if you receive any replies from anyone. The only thing necessary for the persistence of evil is for enough good people to do nothing
The municipality claims that where the Roma go is not their business but the peripheral authority's - which is true but irrelevant: if there are no housing arrangements in place for the Roma to move to (arrangements that they consent to moreover) than the whole action was illegal. Also illegal were mr. Vovos bribes and the fact that the police although they were called to stop the incursion, did nothing, claiming that they were searching for the persons sued (as if they don't know where the town hall or mr. Vovos company headquarters are).
Mr. Vovos' crews were led, escorted and aided by the municipal police making the municipal government the principal perpetrator of this crime. The opposition groups in the city council condemned the actions, but they're a minority (and an even smaller minority is the left's council members who are the only ones willing to raise a stink about this - in fact the only ones to fight against the mayor's plans for the whole area)... Frankly the money involved is such that I'm wagering that nothing will be done. To give you an example, a huge Mall in Athens' Northern suburbs, built and run by one of the companies owned by Spiros Latsis (who is the richest man in the country and no. 51 in the world), was built and is now working without any problems, despite the fact that it was built illegally, against all building regulations and despite a number of judicial orders for its construction to be stopped - orders which the police somehow always was too late to do anything about. Vovos isn't quite in the same league as Latsis, but he's apparently spreading money around - and will have no problem further bribing all involved not to get in the way.
The area of Votanikos, is part of the "Olive grove" (Elaionas), an area which indeed was the source for olive oil in ancient Athens and is now a huge dump, consisting of warehouses, small factories and machine shops, with minimal planning and little infrastructure. City planners have, for the past few decades, insisted that this area (9 sq. km in total), was Athens' last chance for a, desperately needed, large metropolitan park. The plans were laid. Panathinaikos' new ground supposedly tied in nicely with the scheme, but after the stadium was approved, Vovos and others started buying land in the area like crazy, driving prices up and making quite clear that the plans to create a park area > 4 sq.km are unlikely to materialize.
To return to the plight of the Roma. The only way that the Greek authorities will actually live up to their duty of providing housing for them (the international duties to do so have been circumvented by forming a committee on the issue which has done nothing at all, ever), is if the possibility of holding up construction plans due to EU pressure, forces the Periphery, Vovos or someone to move quickly to do so. So I guess the EU parliament, is a good place to start. The local authorities will just find imaginative excuses or ignore the complaints. A better solution is for Athenians to elect a decent mayor for a change (the Right has a stranglehold on the Mayorship for the past quarter century) but that's in four years - but I don't think I'll live to see that day...
I might also add here that it was reported in the press that the Roma school DD mentioned in a previous post - to add injury to insult - was recently firebombed by "persons unknown"... The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake
To: Mr. Kostas Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece Dear Prime Minister, In your capital Athens, in Votanikos, football club Panathinaikos plans to build a new stadium. However, on its place, today a few dozen families of homeless Albanian Roma live in the middle of a rubbish dump, and from what I hear, authorities fail to follow up on their duties to address their situation. It can't be that for the enjoyment of some, the existence of others is endangered. Their living conditions are desolate. Housing is a Fundamental Right in the EU (Article 34, §3, "the Union recognises and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources", also Article 16 and 31 of the Revised European Social Charter). According to General Comment 4 of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), "adequate housing" that has to be provided to everyone is defined as having sustainable access to natural and common resources, clean drinking water, energy for cooking, heating and lighting, sanitation and washing facilities, food storage facilities, refuse disposal, site drainage and emergency services. The Roma of Votankinos have none of these, not even the most pressing one they requested, water. And instead of getting help, they now face eviction. The CESCR G.C. 4 and 7 also denounce forced evictions without recourse, and makes a special case about evictions of ethnic minorities. The European Committee of Social Rights has ruled Greece in violation of Article 16 of the European Social Charter over a similar eviction case in Patras in 2005 and 2006. From what I hear, local authorities and developers in Votanikos are promising many things but not doing anything. There are even reports of lawyers of the developers bribing some of the Roma with €1.000 to leave (presumably to the next rubbish dump), see reports here: http://deviousdiva.com/2007/06/06/votanikos/. I ask Your Excellency: what is the Greek government doing to enforce the housing rights of the people in Votanikos guaranteed in international, European and local law? Yours sincerely xxxxx European Tribune
Dear Prime Minister,
In your capital Athens, in Votanikos, football club Panathinaikos plans to build a new stadium. However, on its place, today a few dozen families of homeless Albanian Roma live in the middle of a rubbish dump, and from what I hear, authorities fail to follow up on their duties to address their situation. It can't be that for the enjoyment of some, the existence of others is endangered.
Their living conditions are desolate. Housing is a Fundamental Right in the EU (Article 34, §3, "the Union recognises and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources", also Article 16 and 31 of the Revised European Social Charter). According to General Comment 4 of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), "adequate housing" that has to be provided to everyone is defined as having sustainable access to natural and common resources, clean drinking water, energy for cooking, heating and lighting, sanitation and washing facilities, food storage facilities, refuse disposal, site drainage and emergency services. The Roma of Votankinos have none of these, not even the most pressing one they requested, water. And instead of getting help, they now face eviction.
The CESCR G.C. 4 and 7 also denounce forced evictions without recourse, and makes a special case about evictions of ethnic minorities. The European Committee of Social Rights has ruled Greece in violation of Article 16 of the European Social Charter over a similar eviction case in Patras in 2005 and 2006.
From what I hear, local authorities and developers in Votanikos are promising many things but not doing anything. There are even reports of lawyers of the developers bribing some of the Roma with €1.000 to leave (presumably to the next rubbish dump), see reports here: http://deviousdiva.com/2007/06/06/votanikos/.
I ask Your Excellency: what is the Greek government doing to enforce the housing rights of the people in Votanikos guaranteed in international, European and local law?
Yours sincerely
xxxxx European Tribune
...to the Prime Minister, the UN Ambassador, and the following:
European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Human Rights (AFET DROI): Hélène Flautre, Chairwoman hflautre@europarl.eu.int Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos, Member giorgos.dimitrakopoulos@europarl.europa.eu
Council of Europe: Mrs Maria OCHOA-LLIDO, Head of the Migration and Roma Department - maria.ochoa-llido@coe.int Mr Henry SCICLUNA, Council of Europe Co-ordinator for Activities concerning Roma and Travellers - henry.scicluna@coe.int Mr Michael GUET, Head of the Roma and Travellers Division and Secretary of the Committee of Experts on Roma and Travellers (MG-S-ROM) - michael.guet@coe.int Mrs Salome HIRVASKOSKI, Council of Europe's Special Adviser on Roma Issues - salome.hirvaskoski@coe.int Mrs Eleni TSETSEKOU, Administrator in charge of intergovernmental activities and supervisor of the project "Advancing equality, tolerance and peace: Equal rights and treatment for Roma" - eleni.tsetsekou@coe.int
I also wanted to send it to members of the European Committee of Social Rights itself, but on one hand there was no email to be found, on the other hand, they are a body only dealing with appeals by states and organisations (NGOs). *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
I'm not sure that the Roma were living in the exact location where the Panathinaikos stadium will be built. I'm almost certain that they're adjacent to it and the area is owned by Vovos - not the City or Panathinaikos. He bought it from the National Bank of Greece I think. Otherwise he wouldn't have intervened personally.
Also technically speaking, the Roma in Votanikos aren't an "ethnic minority", but rather immigrants (and I find it likely that a large number of them might be illegal immigrants - possibly DD knows more about this): they are Albanian Roma (which also doesn't help because, from what I heard they're being shunned by the local Roma) The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake
