UPR 25th Session, Geneva, May 3, 2016
As delivered by Michele Roulbet
The United States welcomes the Greek delegation to the UPR Working Group.
We commend Greece’s commitment to promoting human rights and related issues, including recent efforts to promote interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance.
We look forward to Greece taking additional steps to help meet the significant challenges of the international refugee and migration crisis.
We remain concerned about instances of discrimination against members of the Muslim minority in Thrace and against Roma, including the exploitation of Romani children. We are also concerned about hate speech directed at members of religious and other minorities, particularly anti-Semitic statements made by public officials.
Greece has made progress in protecting and promoting the human rights of LGBTI persons. We encourage the government to sustain these efforts by investigating incidents of violence and discrimination.
We recommend that Greece:
- In cooperation with other European nations and international organizations, work to improve resources, living conditions, and safety at migrant processing centers.
- Actively investigate and condemn instances of discrimination against non-citizens and members of religious and ethnic minority groups, and condemn anti-Semitic statements made by public officials.
- Actively investigate instances of discrimination in employment, including against LGBTI persons.
(end statement)