Ombudsman Intervenes in Chios Tragedy

 

NEWSROOM

The Greek Ombudsman, in an announcement, highlights to the Hellenic Coast Guard Headquarters the need for an impartial and thorough investigation of the collision incident between a Coast Guard vessel and a migrant boat in Chios, which resulted in 15 deaths, and stresses that it will review the completeness of the inquiry once it concludes with its report.

It also announced that it will monitor the conduct of the Sworn Administrative Inquiry (ΕΔΕ), contributing with observations on the procedure where necessary, and will review its completeness once it concludes with its report, reserving the right to take further action.

The announcement emphasizes that it is a standing position of the Independent Authority that the conduct of a full and exhaustive internal administrative inquiry is important both for establishing respect for fundamental rights in every case, and even more so for the right to life, health, and physical integrity, as well as for the prestige of the Coast Guard, as had already been pointed out in the Ombudsman's first letter after the multi-fatality shipwreck of Pylos.

Observations to the Coast Guard

The Ombudsman, in its capacity as National Mechanism for Investigation, pointed out to the Coast Guard the investigative guidelines arising from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in condemnatory judgments against our country (for incidents of shipwrecks, dangerous maneuvers, and shootings by Hellenic Coast Guard personnel, etc.) which must be applied in the present Sworn Administrative Inquiry. This applies particularly to the independence of the Sworn Administrative Inquiry, not only from the Coast Guard personnel involved in the incident but also from the preliminary investigation and the collection of evidence by colleagues of those involved in the relevant Port Authority. Furthermore, it pertains to the impartial taking of every reasonably available measure required to clarify the case, the securing of all objective evidentiary material such as, for example, footage from cameras (on the Hellenic Coast Guard vessel or others, or even from mobile phones of passengers or Coast Guard personnel), recorded conversations with the Operations Center and the Joint Search and Rescue Coordination Center (EKSED), full forensic reports, expert reports on the vessels (including the raising of the sunken vessel), laboratory expert reports on firearms if there are indications or allegations of gunfire, testimonies within the framework of the Sworn Administrative Inquiry from the maximum possible number of witnesses (not only Hellenic Coast Guard personnel but also passengers, and those who assisted in the rescue operation and the provision of first aid and medical care), the examination of the organization and conduct of the operation from the perspective of minimizing risk to life, the examination of the suitability of alternatives to pursuit, and finally, the ascertainment of the circumstances with the main guiding principle being the question "to what extent the operation in question was focused on protecting the lives of the passengers."

It is a standing position of the Independent Authority that the conduct of a full and exhaustive internal administrative inquiry is important both for establishing respect for fundamental rights in every case, and even more so for the right to life, health, and physical integrity, as well as for the prestige of the Coast Guard, as had already been pointed out in the Ombudsman's first letter after the multi-fatality shipwreck of Pylos to the then Chief of the Hellenic Coast Guard (protocol no. 30357/22.06.2023).