Turning to the problems faced by members of certain minority faith and ethnic communities in Greece, Commissioners cited language of the 1989 OSCE Vienna Concluding Document (Para. 13.7), which provides that the participating States will ensure human rights and Greece, fundamental freedoms to everyone within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction, without distinction of any kind such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Commissioners urged the repeal of the onerous anti-proselytism provisions of Greek law, including Article 13 of the Constitution and the Metaxas-era Laws of Necessity 1363/1938 and 1672/1939 which have been used overwhelmingly against religious minorities. These statutes have a chilling impact on religious liberty in the Hellenic Republic and are inconsistent with numerous OSCE commitments, the Commissioners concluded. They continued, we urge repeal of these laws in order to ensure the freedom of all individuals in Greece to profess and practice their religion or belief.With respect to the controversy surrounding the selection of individuals to serve as Mufti in the Hellenic Republic, Commissioners stressed the importance of respecting the right of members of the Muslim community to organize themselves according to their own hierarchical and institutional structure, including in the selection, appointment, and replacement of their personnel, in a manner consistent with relevant OSCE commitments. The letter also cited the burdensome requirements imposed on minority religious communities in Greece to obtain special permits issued by competent ecclesiastical authorities and the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs for the establishment or operation of churches, including places of worship. Reportedly, permission for the construction or repair of places of worship is often difficult or impossible to obtain despite the commitment of OSCE participating States to respect the right of religious communities to establish and maintain freely accessible places of worship or assembly, the Commissioners wrote. Numerous evangelical Greece churches, including the Greek Evangelical Church of Thessaloniki, have reportedly encountered difficulties in securing so-called House of Prayer permits. Members of the Muslim community have similarly reported difficulty in securing permission for the repair of mosques, including the Suleymaniye Mosque on Rhodes. While we appreciate the historic contributions of the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Hellenic Republic, the rights of individuals belonging to minority religions or beliefs must be fully respected without discrimination or subordination, they concluded.

The Commissioners expressed continued concern over the proposed inclusion of religious affiliation on Greek national identity cards, an issue raised during the Commission s September 1997 hearing entitled Religious Intolerance in Europe Today. The inclusion of such information on this widely used document could lead to discrimination against individuals from minority religions or beliefs, they observed. The Members urged the repeal of the 1993 Greek identity law and further action to implement the recommendations of the advisory committee on anti-Semitic references in public school textbooks.

Turning to the status of Greeces significant Roma community, the letter raised concerns over disturbing accounts of pervasive discrimination in employment, housing, education, and access to social services, including health care. With a very high illiteracy rate, this segment of Greek society is particularly vulnerable to abuse by local officials, including reports of Rom being denied registration for voting or identity cards that in turn prevents them from gaining access to government-provided services. An article by the Executive Director of the European Roma Rights Center, Dimitrina Petrova, entitled Agrammatos maintains that thousands of Rom in the Hellenic Republic have been issued official ID cards with the Greek word for illiterate, agrammatos, stamped next to the bearer s photo. Commissioners cited alarming incidents such as the forced eviction of an estimated 100 Roma families by order of the mayor of Ano Liossia and the bulldozing of their makeshift housing as well as similar incidents in Agia Paraskevi, Kriti, Trikala, and Evosmos. Finally, the letter details severe restrictions on the rights to freedom of cultural expression, violations of their freedom of association, and other forms of harassment and discrimination, including limits on the ability of non-Greek citizens of the Hellenic Republic to hold title to their property.