GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR
(Greek National Committee of the International Helsinki Federation)

& MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP - GREECE
(Greek Affiliate of Minority Rights Group International)

P.O. Box 51393, GR-14510 Kifisia, Greece Tel. 30-1-620.01.20; Fax: 30-1-807.57.67; E-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr

1995 ACTIVITY REPORT

Trial monitoring

	30 January (Edesa, Greece): Trial of Father Nikodimos Tsarknias, monk and priest of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, for pretense of authority (postponed indefinitely).
	24 May 1995: Trial of Imbrahim Sherif, elected Mufti of Komotini, in Salonica, for pretense of authority (postponed for 30 April 1996).
	25 May 1995: Trial of racist and nationalist weekly newspaper Stohos, in Athens, for having incited violence against antinationalist historian George Nakratzas (postponed for 15 November 1995).
	7 June 1995: Trial of daily Ethnos publisher George Bobolas, editor Theodore Kaloudis, and journalist Vasilis Rafaelidis, in Drama, for insult and defamation of the mayor of Prosotsani (near Drama), following a Rafaelidis article, based on a Greek Helsinki Monitor denunciation of the major’s statement that, irrespective of the country’s laws and constitution, he would prevent Jehovah Witnesses from having a reading room in Prosotsani: the former two were acquitted, while Rafaelidis was acquitted of the defamation charge but was convicted for insult and sentenced to four months in prison for having called the mayor -who had confirmed in court his declarations- ‘petty major’ (he was set free pending appeal, which, in September acquitted him completely).
	8 June 1995: Trial of four Jehovah’s Witnesses in Salonica for proselytism, the first at the Appeals’ level, after the European Court of Human Rights’ conviction of Greece in the Kokkinakis case: the four defendants, convicted by a first instance court to 5 months in prison and 500,000 drs. fine (around $2,500), were acquitted.
	30 June 1995: Trial of the racist and nationalist weekly newspaper Stohos, in Athens, for having incited violence against antinationalist historian George Nakratzas (in a different case than above) article (postponed for 15 November 1995).
	27 September (Florina, Greece): [three GHM members observed it as part of an IHF delegation] Trial of Macedonian activist Christos Sideropoulos for disseminating false information which may cause disruption to Greece’s international relations: the Court dropped the charges as inadmissible.
	6 November (Athens, Greece): Appeals trial of [Maoist] OAKKE for insulting authorities, inciting citizens to commit acts of violence upon each other and illegally posting bills (postponed for 24 April 1996).
	15 November (Athens, Greece): Trial of Stohos (nationalist weekly) for having threatened a dissident intellectual, George Nakratzas. Stohos was acquitted.
	22 November (Edesa, Greece): [two GHM members observed it as part of an IHF delegation] Four trials (two at the appeals level) of Father Nikodimos Tsarknias, monk and priest of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, for pretense of authority (postponed for 8 May 1996).

Conferences, workshops, seminars, public lectures
[with participation and sometimes presentations by our members - as mentioned]

	14-15 January (Sofia, Bulgaria): Conference on ‘Religious Tolerance in a Human Rights Perspective’; presentation by Panayote Elias Dimitras on ‘Relationship Between the Church and State in Greece’.
	4-5 March (Ohrid, Macedonia): Workshop of Greek and Macedonian intellectuals, with observers from Albania and Bulgaria, co-organized by GHM.
	1-2 April (Sofia, Bulgaria): Conference on the ‘The Carnegie Report and the Balkans Today’; presentations by Panayote Dimitras on ‘Propaganda Wars and Making Enemies’ and ‘Balkan Countries Can Solve Problems On Their Own’.
	3 April (Sofia, Bulgaria) Cross-Border Information Exchange on Balkan Ethnic and National Prejudices Project: participation of P.E. Dimitras in the workshop to prepare the second issue of Balkan Neighbours.
	4 April (Sofia, Bulgaria): Together Intercultural Project: participation of P.E. Dimitras in the workshop to prepare a manual on The Balkans, Our Home, to be written by four, different in nationality, Balkan authors on the history, the geography, the culture and the peoples of the (mainly Southern) Balkans for upper high schools pupils; P.E. Dimitras will be the author of a chapter on the peoples.
	18 April - 1 May (Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney - Australia): Pre/Post Conference Study Tour around the Global Diversity Conference; participation of P.E. Dimitras -the only delegate from the Balkans- in the group of 30 participants from around the world, who visited over 40 institutions to be informed on multiculturalism in Australia.
	20 April (Melbourne, Australia): Public lecture by P.E. Dimitras on International Helsinki Federation (IHF) and Tara Mukherjee on the EU Migrants’ Forum whose the President he is.
	26-28 April (Sydney, Australia): Global Cultural Diversity Conference: participation of P.E. Dimitras, the only delegate from Greece.
	14 May (Athens, Greece): Workshop on human and minority rights in Greece, organized by GHM. Representatives of the Migrant, Catholic, Evangelical, Adventist, Jehovah Witness, Jewish, Macedonian, Turkish, Gay, and Conscientious Objectors’ communities presented the human rights problems they are faced with, to an audience made up by the IHF Executive Committee, Human Rights NGO’s cooperating with Greek Helsinki Monitor and selected media. This was the first meeting of this kind ever held in Greece.
	18-19 May (Athens, Greece): EAN (Greek Left Youth)’s Two-Day Meeting Against Racism: statement by a GHM delegation on ‘Racism and Intolerance in Greece’.
	18-26 May (Levoca, Slovakia): Participation of Dimitris Levantis (only Greek) at the Council of Europe’s Training Seminar for Minority Youth Leaders.
	19-21 May (Athens, Greece): PANIFE (Panhellenic Historical and Philosophical Society)’s Three Days Meeting on Freedom of the Mind: Presentations on ‘Legal Problems Pertinent to the Catholic Church of Greece and Proposals for their Solution’ by Dimitris Levantis and on ‘State Authority and Freedom of Speech’ by P.E. Dimitras; contribution to the drafting and circulation of a statement by the participants in reply to the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece’s prior condemnation of the conference as anti-clerical and anti-national (GHM issued a related statement quoted by the Agence France Presse and was the one to alert the conference’s participants to the Church’s hostile statement). Greek Helsinki Monitor was the recipient of the award ‘Athena’, one of the six awarded by PANIFE.
	15 June (Paris, France): CERI (Center for the Study of International Relations): Conference by P.E. Dimitras on ‘Decompositions and Recompositions in the Balkans’.
	15-17 June (Paris, France): Workshop at the Institut Neerlandais organized by the European Cultural Center - France and the Gulliver Network of the Felix Meritis Foundation on ‘Identities, Questions to Ask’; presentation by P.E. Dimitras on the topic ‘Is There A Return of the Religious Factor?’
	19-20 June (Athens, Greece): Two-Day Meeting on Racism, Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Greece, organized by the ‘Working Group of the Human Rights Organizations of the Greek Committee for the Campaign Against Racism, Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Intolerance’. Presentation by P.E. Dimitras on ‘Racism, Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Greek Public Opinion’ and chairing of the round-table discussion on ethnolinguistic minorities by Nikos Dimou.
	23-24 June (Paris, France): Workshop at the Maison des Sciences de l’ Homme organized by the Italian Council for Social Sciences on ‘Human Rights and Inter-Ethnic Relations: Research and Training’: presentation by P.E. Dimitras on the situation in Greece.
	9-16 July (Strasbourg, France): European Youth Week Against Racism, Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Intolerance organized by the Council of Europe as the highlight of the respective campaign; participation of Lola Kalandrakis and Gabriella Sampsonidou.
	14-16 July (Rome, Italy): Conference on the Position of the Migrants and the Refugees in Europe after the Schengen Treaty, organized by SOS-Racisme Italy and the Municipality of Rome; participation of Dimitris Levantis.
	29-30 August (Amsterdam, the Netherlands): Amsterdam Summer University Seminar on ‘Europe Towards the Third Millennium’. Lecture by P.E. Dimitras on ‘Advocating Europe’s "Positive Balkanization"’.
	18-20 September (Rennes, France): Summer School of ‘Perspectives of Neighborhood in Southeastern Europe’ organized by the European Cultural Center-Paris. Lectures and workshops by P.E. Dimitras on human and minority rights in the Balkans.
	30 September (Athens, Greece): [Greek political party] Coalition’s Festival. Participation of P.E. Dimitras to a round table on minorities in Greece.
	5-8 October (Rome, Italy): Annual meeting of the ‘Justice and Peace Pontifical Council’; participation of Dimitris Levantis.
	19-21 October (Saranda, Albania): Seminar on ‘Media Freedoms’ organized by Article 19. Participation of P.E. Dimitras who addressed issues of defamation and media freedoms in Greece.
	10 November (Athens, Greece): Round-table on racism in Greece organized by the ‘Youth Against Racism in Europe’. Participation of P.E. Dimitras in the round-table.
	2-3 December (Sofia, Bulgaria): Cross-Border Information Exchange on Balkan Ethnic and National Prejudices Project: participation of P.E. Dimitras to the workshop to prepare the third issue of Balkan Neighbours.
	15-17 December (Amsterdam, the Netherlands): Amsterdam Summer School and Network of European Magazines Seminar on ‘Beyond Cosmopolitanism? Issues of National Identity in Contemporary Europe’. Lectures by P.E. Dimitras and Mariana Lenkova on ‘Hate Speech in the Balkan Media (August - October 1995)’; and by P.E. Dimitras on ‘Nation-State and Democracy’.

Meetings with other Helsinki Committees, Minority Rights Groups and other international NGO’s or related IGO’s

	29 January - 8 February (Salonica, Edesa and Athens, Greece): Welcoming and setting up of meetings for an Amnesty International Secretariat delegation to Greece.
	15 February (Athens, Greece): Meeting with a delegation of the Steering Committee of the Council of Europe’s Campaign Against Racism, Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Intolerance which came to Greece to look at the status of the Greek Committee; followed by a meeting with representatives of all minorities set up by our organizations at the request of the foreign delegation.
	4-5 April 1995 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Visit by P.E. Dimitras to the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights Project to discuss common projects; meeting with the President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in the Republic of Macedonia, Meto Jovanovski, to discuss common projects.
	12-15 May 1995 (Athens, Greece): Meeting of the IHF Executive Committee organized jointly by the IHF Secretariat and GHM: the latter set up meetings of the IHF with the Minister of Education, selected foreign diplomats and journalists, as well as the Swedish Ombudsman Against Ethnic Discrimination.
	14 June 1995 ( Paris, France): Visit by P.E. Dimitras to the International Federation of the Leagues of Human Rights (FIDH) to discuss the status and activities of their Greek national committee and the human rights problems in Greece, and agree on a cooperation.
	16 June 1995 (Paris, France): Meeting of P.E. Dimitras with Dominique Tricaud of the French Helsinki Committee to discuss the latter’s conference on the 20th anniversary of the Helsinki Agreements, to be held in December 1995 in Paris.
	22 June 1995 (Paris, France): Visit by P.E. Dimitras to the Reporters Sans Frontieres to discuss freedom of speech problems in Greece and agree on a cooperation.
	24 June 1995 (Paris, France): Meeting of P.E. Dimitras with Georges de Rivas, Director of LIEN (Laboratory of Ideas for a New Europe) to discuss the Launching of a Forum of Minorities in Europe, to which GHM and Minority Rights Group - Greece are active participants.
	25 June 1995 (Paris, France): Meeting of P.E. Dimitras with Henri Giordan, Director of the EU’s Mercator - General Studies program on linguistic minorities, to discuss the further development of the program and application to UNESCO’s MOST program.
	14-16 July (Vienna & Schlaining, Austria): Meeting of the IHF Balkan Committees to prepare the regional projects on ‘Media Freedoms and Hate Speech’ and ‘Regional Security and Human Rights’. Participation of P.E. Dimitras, consultant of the first program.
	17 July (Budapest, Hungary): Visit by P.E. Dimitras to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee to discuss cooperation in regional programs.
	29 August (The Hague, the Netherlands): Visit by P.E. Dimitras to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to brief them on the minority problems in Greece.
	30 August (Utrecht, the Netherlands): Visit by P.E. Dimitras to the Netherlands Helsinki Committee to discuss cooperation in regional programs.
	2-3 November (Athens, Greece): Organized meetings with the ‘International Commission on the Balkans’ [sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment and the Aspen Institute] with independent intellectuals, national and religious minorities. The Commission also commissioned P.E. Dimitras to contribute a chapter to the final report.
	16-19 November (Istanbul, Turkey): IHF General Assembly and working meetings of the projects ‘Regional Security and Human Rights’ and ‘Media Freedoms and Hate Speech’. Participation of P.E. Dimitras and Lola Kalandrakis.
	25-26 November (Sofia, Bulgaria): Meetings of P.E. Dimitras with Bulgarian NGO’s. First, participation as invited guest to address related programs in Greece and present the ‘Hate Speech Project’ of the IHF to the board meeting of the International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. Also, related meetings with the Committee for the Protection of Minority Rights, ACCESS, and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, in preparation of the launching of a joint research program.
	3 December (Sofia, Bulgaria): Meeting of P.E. Dimitras with Open Society Fund President Professor Bogdan Bogdanov to discuss the possible organization of a summer school on human rights in Sofia.
	9 December (Paris, France): Participation of P.E. Dimitras and Mariana Lenkova to the French Helsinki Committee’s General Assembly as guests to present the IHF’s Balkan projects and explore ways of cooperation.
	14 December (Paris, France): Meeting of P.E. Dimitras and Mariana Lenkova with the European Jewish Congress representative J.M. Camus to finalize their contributions to this year’s annual report on racism in Greece and Bulgaria.

Working Group of Human Rights Organizations of the Greek Committee for the Campaign Against Racism, Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Intolerance (WGHRO)

Since the launching of this -Council of Europe-sponsored- campaign in Greece, belatedly in November 1994 and only after sustained pressure by GHM and four other Greek NGO’s, GHM played a decisive role in ascertaining that the campaign in Greece includes all minorities, that were initially excluded from the Committee by the government and with the acquiescence if not the approval of almost all the other GO’s and NGO’s involved. At the beginning, GHM was alone in denouncing domestically and internationally this exclusion; later, most other Greek human rights NGO’s joined GHM and the Council of Europe withheld the Greek Committee’s accreditation until it was opened to all interested participants. The Greek human rights NGO’s decided to coordinate their related activities as a Working Group, whose logistic support and secretariat was provided almost exclusively by GHM, including for the organization of the Group’s main activities, a press conference on human rights problems on 5 June 1995, and a two-day meeting with a debate between minorities and immigrants, on the one hand, and government representatives on the other, on 19-20 June 1995: the latter activity, the first of its kind ever held in Greece, was boycotted if not attacked by the press; it also saw the government refusing to participate in the round tables with the religious and ethnolinguistic minorities, although the Minister of Education George Papandreou participated in the opening meeting: in his speech, he criticized all those who had created problems to the campaign; he admitted that there is racism and intolerance in Greece and that until recently all governments had a policy of isolation of the Muslim minority; he blamed the present inadequate education system for the prevailing racism and intolerance; and he announced reform projects that included the integration in the schools of the children of the illegal immigrants, the introduction of multicultural education, and some kind of affirmative action to allow members of the Muslim minority to enter Greek universities despite their deficiency in the Greek language. On 6 July 1995, the WGHRO elected a five-member secretariat: three of its members are GHM/MRG-G members (as well as members of other NGOs).

Public statements and publications

Press releases of GHM (most also signed by MRG-G)

	3 January: ‘Condemnation of Borba’s Persecution. Evaluation of the Related Attitude of Greek Journalists and ESIEA [the journalists’ union]. Censorship by ET-1 [state television channel] of a Program on the Yugoslav Crisis’.
	4 January: ‘Deposition [to the Prosecutor’s office] of a Demand to Bring Charges for the Rude Beating of a Suspect for Robbery by Policemen and Citizens’.
	17 January: ‘The Council of Europe Did Not Accredit the Greek National Committee Against Racism etc.’.
	18 January: ‘New Censorship by ET-1 of Programs on Non-Orthodox Christians and on the Yugoslav Crisis. Selective Denunciations by ESIEA’.
	26 January: [Joint Statement of the IHF National Committees in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia] ‘Dangerous Precedent of Religious Intolerance Set by Greek Court Decision. Announcement of IHF Missions to Study Minority Problems in the Southern Balkans’.
	9 February: ‘(Rather) Good, (Very) Bad, and (Probably) Ugly News from Tirana (the "Omonoia 4" Set Free), Athens (the Kouvelakis Resignation), and Brussels (Customs’ Union Between Turkey-EU)’.
	1 March: ‘State Agencies Collaborate with Stohos in an Attempt to Undermine the Greek Campaign Against Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism and Intolerance in the Cadre of the Council of Europe’
	7 March: ‘An "Albanian’’s Crime in Agioi Anargyroi and the Positive and Negative Reactions to It’
	10 March: ‘Ohrid summary: Results and Recommendations of the Conference "Reflections on Today’s Southern Balkans"’
	21 March: ‘Explosion of Racism and Intolerance in Greece As We Celebrate "Within Limits" the International Day Against Racism’
	19 May 1995: ‘Racism and Intolerance in Greece’ (Statement to EAN’s Antiracist Two Day Meeting) [also in English]
	20 May 1995 ‘Unprecedented Attempt of Intimidation of Conference Delegates by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece’ [it includes the latter’s related statement]
	21 May 1995: ‘State authority and Freedom of Speech’ (Summary of paper delivered by P.E. Dimitras at the PANIFE Three-Day Meeting on the Freedom of the Mind)
	19 June 1995: ‘Racism, Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Greek Public Opinion’ (Paper Delivered by P.E. Dimitras at the Two-Day Meeting on Racism in Greece)
	3 July: ‘Condemnation of the Speaker of the Parliament’s Statement on the Minority of Thrace. Appeal for the recognition of National Minorities in Greece (Too).’
	20 July: ‘Condemnation of Unprecedented Attack Against a Journalist by Intolerant Newspaper and of the Almost Complete Absence of Reaction from the State and the World of Journalists’
	25 July: ‘Statement on Sadik’s Death’
	4 September: [Joint statement with the Albanian Helsinki Committee] ‘Denunciation of the Refusal by the Ministry of Justice of Greece to Grant Permission to Visit Albanian Inmates in the Korydallos Prison’
	7 September: ‘Open Letter to ND President Miltiadis Evert to Take a Stand on Inadmissible and Slandering Actions of Serres ND Deputy Eugene Haitidis’
	11 September: ‘IHF on Greeks of Turkey’
	14 September: ‘Condemnation of the Use of Violence, of Prosecution, and of the Sacking of the Offices of the "Rainbow" Minority Party with the Participation or the Encouragement of the Local Authorities’
	22 September: ‘Refusal of the Greek Foreign Ministry to Grant Visas to a Member of a Helsinki Committee and Four Journalists’
	30 September: ‘National Minorities in Greece: Myths and Reality’ (Presentation by our Spokesperson Panayote Elias Dimitras in a Related Debate in the Coalition’s Festival)
	2 October: [Statement of the IHF, with full agreement of GHM] ‘Greeks Drop Charges Against Sideropoulos; New Charges Brought Against Macedonian Minority Party’
	13 October: ‘Regrettable but Necessary Personal Statement (On the Occasion of Today’s Ipekci Award Ceremony’
	13 October: ‘Greek-Turkish Friendship and Minorities’ (On the Occasion of Today’s Ipekci Award Ceremony’
	16 October: ‘Inadmissible Ban of a Manifestation in Ehinos’
	29 October: ‘Inadmissible Prosecutions and Convictions of Journalists for Defamation’
	15 November: ‘Pressing of Charges Against ND Deputy and Demand that the Prosecutor Presses Charges Against the Mayor of Prosotsani Drama’
	22 December: ‘Drop Charges Against Father Tsarknias’

Press releases of the WGHRO (see above)

	5 January: ‘NGO Criticism of the Ministry of Education and the General Secretariat for Youth on the Greek Campaign Against Racism etc.’
	25 January: ‘Letter to the General Secretary for Youth’
	14 March: ‘Open Debate on the Campaign Against Racism’
	2 June 1995 ‘Announcement of a Press Conference on Human Rights Problems in Greece’
	9 June 1995 ‘Program of the Two-Day Meeting on Racism in Greece’.
	19 June 1995: Characteristic Excerpts of Minister of Education George Papandreou’s Speech at the Two-Day conference on Racism in Greece.
	10 July: ‘Statement on the Campaign in Greece’
	18 September: ‘Refusal of Greek Schools to Register Pupils of Greek Ethnic Origin from Albania’
	25 September: ‘Trial of Christos Sideropoulos’
	25 September: ‘Announcement of the Public Debate in the Coalition’s Festival. National Minorities in Greece: Myths and Reality.’
	18 October: ‘Announcement of a Press Conference on the Roma of Greece’
	5 December: ‘Announcement of a Press Conference on the Occasion of Human Rights Day’

Press release of the PANIFE conference delegates

21 May 1995: Statement of the PANIFE Conference on the Related With It Release by the Holy Synod.

Joint statement of the Saranda seminar on media freedoms

21 October: ‘Conclusions and Recommendations’

Newsletters

Greek Monitor of Human and Minority Rights: publication of issues no. 3 (in December 1995), 5 and 6 (in March 1995) of Volume I; and of issue no. 1 of Volume II (in December 1995).

Åëëçíéêü ÐáñáôçñçôÞñéï Áíèñþðéíùí êáé Ìåéïíïôéêþí ÄéêáéùìÜôùí (Greek Monitor of Human and Minority Rights - in Greek): publication of issue no.1 of Volume I (in December 1995).

Articles by GHM/MRG-G members (in other publications)

	Panayote Elias Dimitras ‘Image of Balkan Peoples in the Greek Press (October 1994 - March 1995)’ in Balkan Neighbours (1995/2).
	Mariana Lenkova ‘Balkan Cosmopolitanism: Utopia or Reality?’ [translated in Greek by GHM and published by the antinationalist and leftist weekly newspaper ] Epohi, 14 May 1995.
	Alexander Yannopoulos and Vassiliki Neofotistou ‘The MAVI Affair as Covered by the Greek press in April 1994 and in March 1995’ Eleftherotypia, 21 June 1995.
	Panayote Elias Dimitras and Mariana Lenkova ‘Advocating Europe’s "Positive Balkanization"’, Balkan Forum, December 1995.
	Panayote Elias Dimitras ‘Image of Balkan Peoples in the Greek Press (April 1995-September 1995)’, Balkan Neighbours (1995/3).
	Mariana Lenkova "The Jungle and the Threatened Species", Balkan Neighbors (1995/3).
	Panayote Elias Dimitras, Mariana Lenkova and Therese Nelson Hate Speech in the Balkan Media, December 1995.
	Panayote Elias Dimitras, Lola Kalandrakis & Dimitris Levantis ‘"Non-Orthodox = Non-Greek": Religious Intolerance in Greece’, Face to Face, December 1995.
	Mariana Lenkova ‘Bulgaria’ in European Center for Research and Action on Racism and Antisemitism Political Extremism and the Threat to Democracy in Europe: 1995.
	Panayote Elias Dimitras ‘Greece’ in European Center for Research and Action on Racism and Antisemitism Political Extremism and the Threat to Democracy in Europe: 1995.

Also interviews and/or letters to the editors [not all published] to Greek newspapers Avgi, Eleftherotypia, To Vima, Ta Nea, Epohi, Kathimerini; Greek radio stations Antenna, Athens 984, Sky, Flash, Radio Observer,; Greek television stations Mega, Star, Macedonia TV; Greek-Australian newspaper Neos Kosmos and radio stations SBS Greek Service and Voice of Greece; British BBC Radio and The Guardian; French Agence France Press and Radio France Internationale; American Reader’s Digest; Bulgarian newspaper Standard and television station BTS; Macedonian television stations A1 and MTV; German radio station Deutsche Welle; and Swiss Radio.

Human rights reports

	[With the IHF Secretariat] Overview of Human Rights Problems in Greece in 1994 (for IHF’s Annual Report 1995).
	[With the IHF Secretariat] Overview of Human Rights Problems in Greece in 1995 (for IHF’s Report to the OSCE Implementation Meeting on Human Dimension Issues, Warsaw, 2-19 October 1995).

Extensive reports on religious and ethnolinguistic minorities in Greece with information both on their historical development and their current human rights problems. The reports on Aromanians and Meglenoromanians, Arvanites, Pomaks, and Macedonians were included in an issue of our newsletter. The reports on Catholics and Jehovah Witnesses were submitted for comments to community members and other experts and will be published in 1996. A planned report on the Protestants did not materialize as the respective community did not cooperate with our organizations.

Regional and presentation of the monthly national reports on ‘Hate Speech’ in the Balkans, published in December 1995.

Other activities

	Monitoring five Greek daily newspapers for the image of the peoples of Bulgaria, Macedonia, Turkey, and Yugoslavia they present (part of the Cross-Border Information Exchange on Balkan Ethnic and National Prejudices Project).
	Participation in the selection of Balkan students for the Summer School on Perspectives of Neighborhood in the South-Eastern Europe (Rennes, 3-23 September 1995), organized by the European Cultural Center - France; Panayote Elias Dimitras is a member of the Scientific Coordination Committee and gave lectures and held workshops on Balkan nationalism and human rights at the Summer School.
	Counseling a research team at the Athens Polytechnic University studying ‘The Phenomenon of Minorities’ Marginalization in Greater Athens’; and Kosta Barjaba, Lecturer at the University of Tirana, studying the attitudes of Albanian immigrants in Greece, Italy, and (when back home) Albania.
	Participation in preparatory efforts and meetings to create: the Forum of Minorities in Europe; a network of minority youth leaders in Europe; and the Greek Support Group of the EU’s Migrant Forum.
	Monitoring of thirteen Greek newspapers and four radio or television newscasts for ‘hate speech’ they publish or broadcast, as part of the ‘Media Freedoms and Hate Speech’ project of the IHF, to which P.E. Dimitras is a consultant.
	Participating in the ‘Regional Security and Human Rights in the Southern Balkans’ project of the IHF.
	Participating in the network of researchers on ‘Multicultural Societies: Clarification of Concepts and Terminology’ which was awarded a four-year MOST grant by UNESCO.
	Assisting the NGO Philallilia to organize and run a Language School for Albanian Migrants’ Children in Athens (in premises offered by GHM & MRG-G).