The report examines the treatment and detention conditions of individuals held in seven prisons for men and two prisons for women, as well as several police facilities. The findings of the 2025 visit confirm the structural issues of overcrowding and severe staff shortages, compounded by additional deficiencies in the prisons visited, continue to undermine the effective functioning of the prison system. The result is that many individuals in prison are being held in poor and unsafe conditions.
Many male prisoners held in overcrowded and wholly unsuitable conditions
Conditions of detention in male prisons continue to fall short of acceptable and legal minimum standards. Many detained individuals are left to languish in overcrowded and wholly unsuitable conditions which could, in the CPT's view, amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. Cells and dormitories often exceeded their intended occupancy, with single cells measuring 8 sq. m accommodating up to five individuals (Alikarnassos Prison), 11 vulnerable prisoners crammed into a filthy, 22 sq. m cell (Nafplio Prison), certain dormitories offering less than 3 sq. m of living space per person (Chalkida Prison), and dormitories measuring 25 sq. m accommodating eight to 10 individuals (Malandrino Prison). A lack of mattresses and blankets meant some prisoners had to sleep on concrete or wet mattresses (Chania Prison). In most prisons, cells and dormitories were infested with bedbugs and cockroaches, were often cold and damp or even mouldy, and had leaking roofs and ceilings (notably at Chania and Chalkida prisons). Sanitary facilities were regularly out of order and there was insufficient access to hot water or heating.
Urgent improvements should focus on reducing cell occupancy, investing in maintenance, improving hygiene, and expanding the range of activities on offer to prisoners. Furthermore, prisoners placed in segregation or isolation should benefit from daily access to outdoor exercise and adequate supervision. The Committee also calls for a coherent strategy to reduce the prison population, which should prioritise alternatives to imprisonment and non-custodial measures.
Staffing levels were inadequate in all prisons visited, and dangerously low at Korydallos I and Chania prisons, enabling stronger groups of prisoners to operate with impunity and allowing inter-prisoner violence to flourish in these and other establishments. The CPT calls for a national strategy to prevent inter-prisoner violence, prioritising increased staff numbers and comprehensive staff training and support. Furthermore, long-standing structural deficiencies in healthcare provision remained evident across all prisons visited and were particularly alarming at Chania Prison. The CPT calls for substantial investment and a comprehensive reform of prison healthcare services, based on a needs assessment.
Alternatives to incarceration for women underutilised
The visit also focussed on women in prison with the CPT deploring the underuse of non-custodial alternatives to imprisonment and community-based responses for women, including pregnant women and mothers of young children. The committee received several allegations of physical ill-treatment of detained women by male custodial staff, including a case involving degrading punishment of a woman who had self-harmed at Eleonas Women's Prison. This highlighted the need to reiterate a clear message of zero tolerance for ill-treatment and to provide adequate staffing levels, and staff training for its prevention.
Material conditions in certain wings of Eleonas Prison were extremely poor. Large dormitories should progressively be phased out and facilities repaired to ensure that all women are afforded a minimum standard of basic living conditions. Women in segregation at Korydallos II Prison should not be subjected to conditions akin to solitary confinement. The CPT also observed a chronic lack of staff, including custodial, specialised and healthcare staff. Detained women had poor access to healthcare services, which were inadequate, and the alarming lack of psychiatric care was illustrated by the deaths of two women at Korydallos II Prison in 2024 and at Eleonas Prison in January 2025, and the suicide of a third detained at Korydallos II Prison in 2024. A permanent healthcare presence and improved screening are urgently needed to better address the specific healthcare needs and vulnerabilities of women prisoners. Overall, the committee calls for the adoption of gender-sensitive and trauma-informed approaches in the management and care of female prisoners.
Professional policing culture should be promoted
The CPT once again received credible allegations of physical ill-treatment of individuals detained by the police, including slaps, punches and kicks, and banging one's head against a wall, often to obtain confessions or punish certain behaviour. The committee calls for further action to actively promote a professional policing culture within the Hellenic Police, which should be supported by the implementation of safeguards from the outset of deprivation of liberty, the adoption of non-coercive interviewing techniques, the systematic electronic recording of police interviews, and greater police accountability. Further efforts should be made to continue improving material conditions in police stations, which remain inadequate for holding people, including foreign nationals under immigration legislation, for extended periods. The CPT also examined several deaths in police custody, including the death of a foreign national in September 2024 at Agios Panteleimonas police station, noting that several cases could have been prevented. The committee requests information on the outcome of investigations into this death.
Greek government response to report
Following the visit, the CPT held talks in Athens in June 2025 with senior government ministers to address the situation in prisons. The Greek authorities, recognising the committee's key role in the reform process, presented a new 2025-2030 Action Plan for the recovery of the prison system. In the CPT's view, this fully costed and comprehensive reform plan represents a significant step forward in both cooperation and strategic planning to address the prison crisis.
Building on these talks, the Greek authorities have provided a comprehensive response to the committee's report, engaging constructively and providing detailed replies to all CPT recommendations, many of which have been fully or partially implemented.
Links
Read the report in full
Committee for the prevention of torture
Greece and the Council of Europe
