Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

List of issues in relation to the initial report of Greece *

A.Purpose and general obligations (arts. 1–4)

1.Please explain the approach to disability in the legislation of the State party, particularly in article 21, paragraph 6, of the Constitution, Law No. 3304/2005 and Law 4488/2017, and the measures taken to ensure that it is in line with the human rights concept of disability enshrined in the Convention. Please explain how the three branches of Government have developed and applied the approach to disability.

B.Specific rights (arts. 5–30)

Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)

2.Please inform the Committee about provisions in the State party’s legislation implementing European Union Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC covering the protection of persons with disabilities from discrimination, including provisions on reasonable accommodation, in accordance with the Committee’s general comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination, and explain:

(a)How the provisions on reasonable accommodation are implemented in the private and public spheres, particularly in schools;

(b)The specific measures taken to protect migrants and asylum seekers with disabilities from discrimination.

Women with disabilities (art. 6)

3.Please inform the Committee about the results achieved through the actions of the General Secretariat for Gender Equality referred to in paragraphs 293–296 of the State party’s initial report (CRPD/C/GRC/1 and Corr.1) in relation to women with disabilities, disaggregating the information by age, education, employment status and type of impairment.

Children with disabilities (art. 7)

4.Please describe the safeguards in place to ensure that children with disabilities can express their opinion in all official procedures concerning them.

Accessibility (art. 9)

5.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The number and percentage of buildings and other infrastructure facilities that have been rendered accessible, in particular as a result of the implementation of Law No. 4067/2012 (art. 26);

(b)The specific legal framework to ensure accessibility of goods and services;

(c)Measures taken to make public transport outside of Athens, such as long-distance buses, accessible, disaggregating the information by urban and rural area;

(d)The current status of accessibility to electronically transmitted information, media and communication services, in accordance with European Union Directive 2016/2102 and Law 4488/2017.

Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11)

6.Please inform the Committee about the specific legal framework for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities in situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, and about its implementation. Please describe the measures in place or planned to identify asylum seekers and refugees in need of specific protection, particularly those who are women and children with disabilities.

Equal recognition before the law (art. 12)

7.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The outcome of the six subprojects of the State party’s project aimed at the enhancement of the collective expression of and advocacy for people with mental disabilities (CRPD/C/GRC/1 and Corr.1 para. 131);

(b)Steps taken to repeal legal provisions that restrict the legal capacity of persons with disabilities, particularly persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, and to enact a legislative framework based on supported decision-making in accordance with the Committee’s general comment No. 1 (2014) on equal recognition before the law.

Access to justice (art. 13)

8.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The implementation of European Union Directives 2013/48/EU and 2011/99/EU, in particular in relation to persons who are blind or deaf;

(b)The procedural safeguards in place and the training provided to judges, lawyers and other judicial and administrative staff to secure the rights of persons with disabilities in civil, criminal and administrative proceedings.

Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)

9.Please provide data on the number of persons with disabilities deprived of liberty, disaggregated by gender, age, type of impairment and grounds for the deprivation of liberty.

10.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures to repeal all laws that allow the deprivation of liberty of persons with disabilities based on perceived or actual impairment, or perceived dangerousness to themselves or society, and about measures to prevent such practices;

(b)The use of restraints on persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, including the use of enclosed restraint beds (cages or net beds), and of sedation to restrain them in institutions of any kind.

Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 15)

11.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures in place to ensure that a person with a disability has given full and informed consent before taking part in any scientific or medical experiment or treatment;

(b)The laws and protocols governing the use of force against persons with disabilities by the police and other law enforcement personnel, and their protective measures for persons with disabilities;

(c)Legal safeguards and monitoring mechanisms in place in relation to care and treatment in institutions, particularly those in Lechaina, Komotini and Skaramagas (before the latter was closed in 2017), and the State party’s response to the joint urgent appeal by the special procedures regarding the situation in the Lechaina Care Centre.

Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)

12.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The current status of the implementation of European Union Directive 2011/93/EU with respect to children with disabilities;

(b)Measures taken to combat violence against women with disabilities, including sexual abuse and exploitation, in domestic and institutional settings.

Protecting the integrity of the person (art. 17)

13.Please describe measures taken to protect persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, against forced medical intervention, forced sterilization and forced abortion.

Liberty of movement and nationality (art. 18)

14.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures taken to safeguard the rights of persons with disabilities, in particular women and children with disabilities, in all stages of asylum and immigration proceedings, including the provision of appropriate support and individualized accommodation;

(b)The number and percentage of persons with disabilities whose claims have been processed annually by the State party in asylum and immigration proceedings since 2012, disaggregated by sex, age and type of impairment;

(c)International cooperation, including with the European Union, in all processes involving refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities, particularly women and children with disabilities.

Living independently and being included in the community (art. 19)

15.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The availability of support services, including personal assistance, to promote living independently and being included in the community, specifying whether they are free, subsidized or require any additional personal expenses;

(b)Plans to adopt a national deinstitutionalization strategy, its time frame and budget allocations, and about the involvement of organizations of persons with disabilities in its design and implementation, as well as safeguards against reinstitutionalization into smaller institutions;

(c)Measures taken under and the status of the “Psychargos” programme and the progress made in the implementation of the existing deinstitutionalization programmes, namely supported living houses and day-care centres;

16.Please inform the Committee about measures taken, including any strategy or binding action plan adopted, to end the institutionalization of children with disabilities, and update it on:

(a)The number and proportion of children with disabilities who have been placed in institutions, disaggregated by type of impairment and the type of institution, since 2012;

(b)Financial allocations provided to support measures and action plans for living independently and being included in the community.

Personal mobility (art. 20)

17.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Individual services available for persons with disabilities within the public transport system, with reference to all forms of disabilities;

(b)Availability and cost of, and access to, individual technical devices to assist mobility for persons with disabilities in urban and rural areas;

(c)The implementation of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1300/2014 of 18 November 2014.

Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information (art. 21)

18.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The implementation of national standards and norms on the access of persons with disabilities to audiovisual media services and the Internet, particularly regarding information on accessible essential services, with reference to European Union Directive 2016/2102;

(b)Measures taken to ensure and facilitate the use of sign language, Braille, Easy Read, augmentative and other alternative communication in public procedures in accordance with the Committee’s general comment No. 2 (2014) on accessibility.

Education (art. 24)

19.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures taken to ensure the right to inclusive education for persons with disabilities and to develop a fully inclusive education system;

(b)Measures taken to ensure full accessibility of school facilities, educational materials, services and equipment to students with disabilities;

(c)The number of children with disabilities enrolled in mainstream schools and in special schools or segregated school units, at various levels of education, as a proportion of the total number of children with disabilities enrolled in school, disaggregated by sex and national or ethnic origin;

(d)Dropout rates for children with disabilities from mainstream schools and from segregated school settings, at various levels of education, as a proportion of the total number of child dropouts since 2012, disaggregated by sex and national or ethnic origin;

(e)The status, scope and results of implementation of the programmes on specialized educational support for the inclusion of students with disabilities and/or special educational needs and on the development of accessible educational and instructional materials for students with disabilities (CRPD/C/GRC/1 and Corr.1, paras. 189–191), and whether they are in line with the Convention.

Health (art. 25)

20.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Access of persons with disabilities to health services, providing data disaggregated by sex, age and type of impairment, and about measures taken to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis on access to health care;

(b)The current status, scope and results of implementation of the “Kallikratis” programme (CRPD/C/GRC/1 and Corr.1, para. 202);

(c)Measures taken to ensure accessible sexual and reproductive health services for persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls with disabilities, on an equal basis with others;

(d)The effects of the Integrated Health Care Regulation on older persons with disabilities.

Habilitation and rehabilitation (art. 26)

21.Please provide, with respect to the institutions mentioned in paragraphs 208–214 of the initial report:

(a)Information on financial resources available to the new social welfare centres and the number of persons with disabilities having received services from the centres, disaggregated by sex, age and type of impairment, including as a percentage of the total number of persons who require those services;

(b)Information on measures taken in the field of habilitation and rehabilitation by the national institute for persons who are deaf and the Centre for Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind;

(c)The number of persons with disabilities who have received services from the recovery and rehabilitation centres, as a percentage of all requests for such services;

22.Please inform the Committee about any additional habilitation and rehabilitation programmes currently in place or planned by the State party.

Work and employment (art. 27)

23.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Current statistics on infringements of the principle of equal treatment in employment and work of persons with disabilities, enshrined in Law No. 3304/2005 (CRPD/C/GRC/1 and Corr.1 para. 312);

(b)Measures taken as a part of, and results achieved through the transition from sheltered workshops to the open labour market, and the introduction of new forms of social cooperative enterprise guaranteeing the right to work for persons with disabilities;

(c)Measures taken and planned to reduce unemployment among persons with disabilities, particularly women.

Adequate standard of living and social protection (art. 28)

24.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures taken or planned to monitor and alleviate the impact of the economic crisis on the decline in the living standard of persons with disabilities of all ethnic origins;

(b)The current status, scope and results of the implementation of the pilot guaranteed minimum income programme (CRPD/C/GRC/1 and Corr.1 para. 265) with respect to persons with disabilities.

Participation in political and public life (art. 29)

25.Please inform the Committee about measures taken to ensure:

(a)The full participation of persons with disabilities, particularly persons with intellectual disabilities and those still living in residential institutions, in political and public life;

(b)The full accessibility of voting procedures, facilities and materials, including the provision of formats such as Easy Read, Braille and sign language.

C.Specific obligations (arts. 31–33)

Statistics and data collection (art. 31)

26.Please inform the Committee about the use of the Washington Group Short Set of Questions on Disability by the State party in discharging its obligations under article 31 of the Convention.

International cooperation (art. 32)

27.Please inform the Committee about the measures taken to ensure adherence to the Convention in the national implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

National implementation and monitoring (art. 33)

28.Please provide information on the mechanisms in place for the implementation of the Convention and its monitoring, with a detailed description of the bodies involved, their formation, composition, competences and budgets. Please describe the mechanism in place to ensure the involvement and full participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in the monitoring processes.