Greece: Disparities in accounts of Pylos shipwreck underscore the need for human rights compliant inquiry

Starkly divergent accounts from survivors and Greek authorities around the circumstances of the deadly Pylos shipwreck, underscore the urgent need for an effective, independent, and impartial investigation, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.   The disparities between survivors’ accounts of the Pylos shipwreck and the authorities’ version of the events are extremely concerning The fishing vessel, Adriana, was…

Greece shipwreck: Nine Egyptian survivors still in pre-trial detention

New report suggests real culprits behind deadly Pylos wreck had close ties with Libya’s eastern commander, Khalifa Haftar *First Published on Middle East Eyes By Katherine Hearst Nine Egyptian men accused of being members of a smuggling network are still being held in Greece in pre-trial detention, in connection with last month’s deadly Pylos shipwreck, campaigners say. On 13 June, a…

Pylos: The technological capacities of the ship PPLS 920 render absurd any no-footage claims (video + pictures)

*First Published in Initiative of Lawyers and Jurists for the shipwreck of Pylos The technological capacities of the ship PPLS 920 render absurd any no-footage claims (vid+pics) The technological capacities of the ship (PPLS 920) render absurd any claim by the Greek authorities that no footage of the Pylos shipwreck exists. [Announcement of the Initiative of Lawyers…

Frontex statements, reactions, initiatives on the Pylos shipwreck (official statements, tweets, media reports, LIBE, etc)

*Repost from Initiative of Lawyers and Jurists for the shipwreck of Pylos In this post, we gather Frontex statements, reactions, initiatives, etc, on the Pylos shipwreck (official statements + media reports) 1) Frontex tweet (2023-06-14) An initial version of this tweet, had the phrase “All questions should be directed to the Greek Rescue Coordination Centre”. This content…

Syrian authorities stall identification efforts as Pylos shipwreck families struggle for answers

*First Published on Syria Direct ATHENS — On Tuesday, three Syrian families gathered at an Islamic cemetery in Komotini, northern Greece. They were there to bury three men: Riyadh Ghassan al-Talab, Muhammad al-Suwaydan and Hussam Zatima.  Al-Talab, al-Suwaydan and Zatima, all from Syria’s southern Daraa province, were among the estimated 750 people on board a boat that sank in…

Greece migrant boat disaster: Was the coast guard to blame?

*First Published on Deutsche Welle Research conducted by a team of international journalists is casting doubt on the Greek coast guard’s account of the tragedy that cost hundreds of lives. Did the actions of the coast guard cause the boat to capsize? Less than a month after an overcrowded fishing trawler crammed with about 700 migrants sank off…

Open Letter on the Greece Boat Disaster: Questions of International Law (Academics International Initiative)

*First Published in Initiative of Lawyers and Jurists for the shipwreck of Pylos Open Letter on the Greece Boat Disaster: Questions of International Law This letter is undersigned by academics internationally specialising in the areas of migration, asylum, refugee and human rights law, public international law, law of the sea and international criminal law. On 14 June 2023, yet…