The President of the Greek National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR), Georgios Stavropoulos has resigned as chairman of the body, denouncing the government for forcing 5 members of the LGBTQ community and 2 more from the Roma community on the body.
In his resignation statement, Mr Stavropoulos stressed the government had acted in an arbitrary manner by showing unjustified preferential treatment for the LGBTQ and Roma communities against the other groups.
“The government wants to alter its (body’s) composition but also make it dysfunctional, practically inactive, proceeds unilaterally to a pervasive and uncritical addition of 5 members from a single Community, that of the LGBTQ, and two other members, apart from the existing member, from another, that of the Roma community, in violation of any principle of equality with other rights-protection bodies already members of the NCHR and having only one vote in the Plenary of the Commission”.
He claiming by alleging the overrepresentation of a specific group in the body, against members of other communities which had also defended human rights would compromise the integrity and independence of the Commission.