FORCED LABOUR AND SLAVERY RACISM In March, in Chowdury and Others v. Greece, in a landmark judgment, the European Court of Human Rights found that 42 migrant workers from Bangladesh had been subjected to forced labour and human trafficking while working at a strawberry farm in the village of Manolada. The Court also found that Greece had failed to prevent human trafficking and to conduct an effective investigation into the offences committed. Numerous hate-motivated attacks were reported during the year. Between August 2016 and the end of 2017, over 50 attacks reportedly took place in the town of Aspropyrgos where groups of young locals attacked migrant workers from Pakistan. In June, representatives of national NGOs filed a complaint and authorities launched a criminal investigation. In October, police arrested three young men suspected of being linked to one of the violent attacks. Sixty-nine individuals linked to the far-right party Golden Dawn, including the party’s leader and MPs, were put on trial in 2015 for the murder of anti-fascist singer Pavlos Fyssas in 2013 and for participation in a criminal organization. In October, the Athens Court of Appeal completed hearing evidence from all prosecution witnesses called to testify in the trial. CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS Conscientious objectors continued to be arrested, repeatedly prosecuted, tried in military courts and fined. In June, a 53-yearold conscientious objector who was prosecuted for having refused to enlist in 1990, was tried in a military court, but was acquitted. According to the 2016 submissions of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights and the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, the duration of alternative civilian service for certain categories of conscientious objectors was still not conforming with the European Social Charter. In July, the European Committee of Social Rights asked Greece to provide further information. TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT Allegations of ill-treatment and excessive use of force by law enforcement officials persisted. The majority of victims of the reported incidents were refugees and migrants trapped on the Aegean islands as a result of the EU-Turkey deal. There were allegations that police used excessive force against asylum-seekers during an operation to arrest protesters who were clashing with the police in the Moria camp, on Lesvos, on 18 July. Police also allegedly ill-treated some of those arrested and detained in the island’s main police station following the clashes. In July, a local prosecutor ordered a criminal investigation into the allegations. The investigation was ongoing at the end of the year. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE Refugees and migrants stranded on the Aegean islands were also subjected to hatemotivated crimes. Some of the victims were transgender women and gay men. In October, amid transphobic reactions inside and outside Parliament, the government passed a new law reforming legal recognition of gender identity. Law 4491/2017 expressly stated that transgender people could change their identity documents without the requirements of medical interventions, tests and psychiatric assessments. However, the new legislation also contained several flaws, including a single status requirement and the validation of gender recognition by a local court. While the procedure was open to individuals above the age of 15, blanket age restrictions remained and 15- to 16-year-old children seeking legal gender recognition faced the additional barrier of a psycho-medical assessment. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION In October, Parliament adopted a legislative amendment seeking to implement three 179