1. Stay calm. Do not aggravate the situation. Stand your ground.
2. Note carefully everything that is said and done, by whom and when.
3. Remember that while you are bound to abide by local laws when travelling abroad, your civil rights are normally protected under international law.
4. Local police have no right to detain you, to enter your property, to appropriate possessions or to commandeer vehicles without first identifying themselves and without adequate justification or explanation.
5. Local police may not order you to commit acts that are illegal in the country concerned.
6. If, owing to language problems, you and the police cannot make yourselves clearly understood, it is the responsibility of the police to provide a proficient translator.
7. Unless you are formally charged with an offence, your only responsibility is to assert your identity and, within reason, to account for your presence: i.e. to show that the purposes and duration of your visit do not contravene any visa or entry conditions.
8. Your passport or identity card is yours and normally the property of your government. Police may examine them to satisfy themselves as to your identity but have no right to withhold them, at least until you are charged with some offence.
9. Under internationally recognised agreements your passport contains all the information and personal details that local police are entitled to know about you. Unless charged you cannot be required to provide irrelevant personal details such as your marital status, your political, religious or personal beliefs, your sexuality, information regarding your friends or members of your family abroad, etc. Never, ever, allow yourself to be drawn into revealing your opinion on matters such as politics, religion, sexuality, narcotics, etc.
10. You and your possessions may not be searched without an adequate explanation and you must at all times be able to witness the entire procedure.
11. You may not be required to sign any document you do not clearly understand and you should never do so – the document may well include clauses which incriminate you, exonerate the police, or prevent you from instituting a complaint or legal proceedings.
12. Once you have identified yourself, explained the purpose of your visit and no evidence has been found or assertion made that you have committed, or intend to commit, any offence, you may not be further detained without justifiable cause or a formal charge.
13. In all circumstances and particularly if charged, you have the immediate right under international laws (and most local legislation) to access to independent legal advice.
14. It is illegal under international law (and most local legislation) for government officials or police to harass, threaten or humiliate you, or to cause you unnecessary fear for your liberty or safety.
15. It also illegal under international laws (and most local legislation) for police to infringe your civil liberties merely on the grounds of nationality, race, colour, political or religious beliefs, sexuality, etc.
16. If you suffer any physical injury during police detention or as a consequence of police interrogation or search, be sure to get this observed, treated and the symptoms recorded by a qualified medical practitioner as soon as possible.
17. Government departments, officials and police are as liable as any individual, under international laws (and most local legislation), for crimes such as appropriation, theft, unreasonable detention, false imprisonment, breaches of civil rights, defamation of character, etc.
18. Report any abuse of power to your own embassy as soon as possible. Offences against international laws, including infringements of human rights or civil liberty, can incur severe penalties and financial redress. You may be entitled to bring civil or criminal proceedings against those concerned: locally, or under your own national legislation, or through international courts or tribunals.
19. Remember, if ever you find yourself being persecuted, that while a policeman or policewoman may not fear you, they do live in fear of their superiors. They fear being required to account for their conduct – and above all of being charged with (let alone found guilty of) criminality. Any illegal conduct could cost them their job, their pension, their status and the few 'powers' that make their lives worthwhile. Worst of all is the risk of finding themselves locked up with people who can make sure their lives are not worth living!

Letter of protest to the Greek government:

Monday, 10 May, 1999

H. E. The Greek Ambassador
The Greek Embassy
London

Fax: 0171 229 722

Dear Sir,

Protest & Request for Documentation re: Incident on Chios, 1 April 1999

This is to register a formal protest and a request for documents regarding the treatment that I (a British citizen) received recently at the hands of Greek police while a visitor on the Greek island of Chios.

In the company of my elderly female cousin Mme Françoise Briès Bernard (a French citizen) I had been visiting the island of Chios for a period of about two weeks for two purposes:

1) as a journalist, to carry out historical research for a proposed TV documentary on the Massacres of Chios in 1822 (in which my family played a major role and died in large numbers), and

2) to discuss with the director of the Koraes Library my intention of donating to the library a collection of documents, portraits, valuables and memorabilia which had belonged to members of my family (Vlasto/Rodocanachi/Ralli/Argenti, etc) who had lived on the island for centuries prior to the events of 1822.

On the night of 1 April 1999 at around 9.00 p.m. we were about to leave the island and board a ferry to Piraeus with our car (a British registered Land Rover, J472 LOW, clearly marked with CIoJ 'Press' stickers). Quite suddenly a man in dark glasses and a leather jacket stepped in front of our car, shouted at us to stop, and forced his way into the back of our car, aggressively ordering us to drive around 50 metres to the police station. We asked why but he refused to tell us or to identify himself.

Despite my protests and with more threats and shouts we were then instructed to drive forward which resulted in the car driving over and crushing several kit-bags belonging to Greek servicemen waiting to board the same vessel. On the street outside the police station we were met by eight or more uniformed police who shouted conflicting orders at us and, when we asked what they wanted from us, told us they didn't understand English. Never at any point was any formal explanation given to us and always they said they couldn't understand us (though they gave us constant orders in English). I explained that I was a journalist researching a TV project but this was either ignored or not believed. Our passports were taken away and I was then ordered to unlock my car. The entire contents, (including about a dozen bags, bedding, professional equipment, clothes, etc.) were then pulled out onto a dirty street in front of a growing crowd of spectators. By now there were so many police minutely searching all our personal possessions that we were unable to observe and monitor the way the search was conducted.

Meanwhile we were subjected to a barrage of bizarre questions from several policemen all at once: e.g. why I had a 'baby-sitter' with me (presumably a reference to my cousin) and where my children were (when I said I didn't have any they refused to believe me, demanding to know why not). The atmosphere and the behaviour of the police was deliberately intended to be threatening and frightening. It was quite clear that the aim of the proceedings was to humiliate and distress us to the maximum extent, short of physical violence, in front of a crowd of spectators.

Fortunately we were able to use a mobile phone, unobserved, to call friends on the island (a Mr Zannis Choremi and his wife – prominent citizens of Chios). They arrived about 10 minutes later and were appalled by what they saw. They too were then subjected to intrusive questioning which has led them to make formal protests to the Mayor of Chios, the Chief of Police in Chios and, I believe, to the government in Athens.

About three-quarters of an hour later, when nothing of any interest was found in our car we were left to retrieve our belongings scattered all over the street while a senior officer tried to induce us to sign a document written entirely in Greek. I refused, saying that I would not sign any document I could not understand. Clearly angered by this they began a renewed search of the engine and other parts of our car. By this point several of the more junior police officers seemed embarrassed and uncomfortable at the way matters were being conducted and began to disappear. It was clear that the man who had originally stopped us was the ring-leader of the entire incident and although he had no reason to detain us insisted on demanding a long list of personal details, which included the names and dates of birth of my elderly parents in Britain, before our passports were returned. I drove away and boarded the ferry to Piraeus. No apology or explanation had been offered to us. Only subsequently did we discover that we had 'lost' some items during the search process.

Recently we have heard from friends on the island (all of whom were outraged by our experience and protested) that the police have widely circulated two different 'explanations' for stopping and searching us:

1) that we had been over-heard by police informants earlier that day openly discussing our thefts of icons from churches on Chios, and

2) that the Chios police were acting on instructions from Interpol because we were on a list of known international criminals.

Furthermore, we have heard that several of our friends on the island (including the distinguished historian Thomas Karamuslis, the architect Maria Xida and others) were all interviewed by the police in subsequent days in an attempt to get them to provide some justifiable evidence against us. Needless to say, these people were outraged and have, I understand, registered formal protests which resulted in some coverage of this matter in the Greek national press.

Since my return to the UK I have discovered other examples of similar treatment of bona fide visitors to Chios. I am not over-sensitive to such incidents: my work as a war correspondent over the past 10 years has often involved encountering police and military check-points many times a day. However, nothing I have yet experienced in a war zone has ever been as deliberately intimidating, humiliating and aggressive as this experience on Chios.

Since the treatment we received from police in Chios did not in any respect conform even to minimum recognised European standards and since our human rights were infringed, I would ask you to provide me, as soon as possible, with a copy of the reports into the incident which have, I believe, been prepared by the authorities in Chios and Athens.

Additionally I would like to know more about the Greek police allegations regarding Interpol's involvement. You will appreciate that such widespread and defamatory allegations by the Greek police (that we were 'known criminals') have serious implications – concerning which we are taking further advice.

I have to say that in the light of our experience, as well as those of other non-Greek visitors to Chios, we would strongly advise against anyone visiting this island until police attitudes and procedures have radically improved.

Sincerely,


Christopher Long

c.c. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London SW1.

Message of sympathy from the mayor of Chios:

Subject: Mayor of Chios
Date: 07-10-99 6:06am
Received: 07-10-99 20:36pm
From: dxioy2@otenet.gr
To: Editor @ JTN, CALong@dircon.co.uk

To Mr Christopher A. Long Vlastos

Dear Sir,

A friend of mine, Mr Stefanos Hatzigeorgiou, informed me about you and your polite intentions for Chios island. Actually, it's so touching to meet persons like you, who nevertheless live all their life abroad, and they have so many feelings for their own country. All those pages that you have written in e-mail [sic] about Vlastos family and Chios in general, impressed me so much.

Sincerely I'm very sorry for the unlucky event that happened to you during your last visit at Chios and I'd like personally to apologize to you. Waiting to welcome you in your next visit to Chios and especially in my office, I remain,

Sincerely yours, Petros Pantelaras, Mayor of Chios