Maria Becket
 Maria Becket    ( activist) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Μαρία Χάρη 7 April 1931 Greece |
| Died | 29 October 2012 (Age 81) Athens, Greece |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Alma mater | University of London |
| Spouse | James Becket |
Opponent of the Greek military junta (1967-74) who attended the 1982 Bilderberg. | |
Maria Hary Becket was a Greek activist against the 1967 military coup. She attended the 1982 Bilderberg meeting, listed as "Greece, Former Advisor to Ministers of Coordination and Foreign Affairs".[1]
In Paris in late 1969, when junta foreign minister Pipinelis walked out of the Council of Europe meeting to avoid the junta's imminent expulsion, a single figure stood at the top of the stairs. As he passed he hissed, "you will pay for this, this is your fault". And that was in large measure true. That person was Maria Becket. It was she who had worked over two years with the three Scandinavian governments to bring the Greek Case before the European Human Rights Commission.[2]
Contents
Background
She came from a family of inherited wealth. Her mother's side, the Dzelepy family, came originally from Constantinople and had emperor Michael Palaeologos as their ancestor. During the Greek civil war 1944-49, her father, the civil engineer Nikolaos Chary, was on the Communists' death list. Because of this, he suffered a persecution mania so extreme it culminated with him attempting to strangle Maria, the one person he would let close. Released after shock treatment, he committed suicide.[2]
Education
In the 50s and early 60s she took a Phd in Byzantine History from London University.[2]
Marriage
She married the radical journalist James Becket, and had two children. James Becket wrote as a foreign correspondent from Europe, Latin America and Africa. His reports and articles appeared amongst others in The New Republic, The Nation, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Journal de Genève etc. He also contributed to scholarly journals on issues of land reform,[3] economic development,[4] and international human rights law.[5] From 1974 to 1981 James Becket was the UNHCR's Director of Public Information.
The Greek Dictatorship
In 1967, at the time of the Greek military coup,she lived in Geneva, Switzerland. Her life soon became that of a militant activist battling for the restoration of democracy in Greece. She made important contacts with governments, the media, and liberation movements around the world.[6]
Amnesty International sent James Becket and barrister Anthony Marreco to Athens to investigate alleged human rights violations. Their Report[7] which emphasized the government's use of torture based on first hand testimony was widely reported in global media. Three Scandinavian countries brought the Greek Case before the European Commission of Human Rights[8] Becket wrote Barbarism in Greece documenting torture and continued writing articles,[9] appearing on television such as the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the conflict with the government over public opinion. When the European Commission was to hold hearings in Strasbourg, the Beckets organized the escapes of torture victims from Greece who gave first hand testimony to the commission.[10] Becket also appeared as a witness.[11] The violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibiting torture proved to be a key issue in the commission's decision to condemn the dictatorship leading to its exit from the Council of Europe.[12] Becket was declared persona non grata by the Greek government.
In July 1974, thanks to her close contacts with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian resistance organizations, she set up Radio Free Cyprus in Beirut, immediately after the Greek junta's coup against Makarios.[13] Turkey invaded Cyprus five days later, and the junta government collapsed.
The new government under Konstantin Karamanlis offered her the post of Ambassador to the US, but she turned it down.[2][14]
Later life
In the later part of her life, she took up the cause of the world's waters against the 'new apocalypse' of pollution and exploitation. In 1995 she organised the first of eight hugely ambitious 'symposium' voyages, carrying ecologists, clerics of all creeds, bankers, EU Commissioners and environmental commentators on chartered ships to study a threatened sea or river. Formalised as the London based organisation ‘Religion, Science and the Environment' organised symposia in the Aegean, the Black Sea, the Danube, the Adriatic, the Baltic, the Amazon, the Greenland Arctic and the Mississippi Delta.[2]
She began life as a rich woman, but as the 2008 Financial Crisis discouraged donors, she began to spend her own money. By the time of her final illness, she was almost penniless. As she lay dying, Greek authorities accused her and her family of using the symposia to defraud the state and subsequently of money-laundering.[2][15]
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1982 | 14 May 1982 | 16 May 1982 | Norway Sandefjord | The 30th Bilderberg, held in Norway. |
References
- ↑ File:Bilderberg-Conference-Report-1982.pdf
- ↑ Jump up to: a b c d e f http://www.mariabecketreport.com/home.html archived
- ↑ https://doi.org/10.2307%2F164809
- ↑ Becket, James (August 1970). ""the Greek Case before the European Commission of Human Rights"". Human Rights. I (1).
- ↑ Liljegren, Henrik (2006). From Tallinn to Turkey, As a Swede and Diplomat. Trimbo. p. 71. "An important and often crucial role in mobilizing European opinion against the Greek junta and exposing its human rights abuses was played, both openly and behind the scenes, by Maria Becket, a Greek citizen and James Becket, an American. Seldom has the engagement of two private individuals had such an influence on a major issue of European democracy and human rights. The contribution of this couple, who lived at the time in Geneva, to the efforts of the Nordic countries to convince the Council of Europe about the human rights violations of the junta, tipped the scale from failure to success."
- ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/maria-becket-resistante-who-fought-the-greek-junta-then-became-an-ecological-activist-8336227.html
- ↑ Report by Amnesty International Situation in Greece 27 January 1968
- ↑ European Human Rights Commission (1969) The Greek Caseː Report of the Sub-Commission Vol. I part 1
- ↑ for exampleː Becket, James (April 1970). "Inquisition Greek Style". Ramparts Magazine: 44–49.
- ↑ Korovesis, Pericles (1970). The Method - A personal Account. Allison and Busby.
- ↑ European Human Rights Commission (1969) The Greek Caseː Report of the Sub-Commission Vol. II Part 1
- ↑ {Council of Europe Scores Greece Rules". New York Times. 27 September 1968.}
- ↑ https://www.eirinika.gr/article/6038/mia-xehoristi-ellinida-poy-efyge-prin-apo-liges-meres-i-maria-hari-mpeket-giati
- ↑ https://www.iefimerida.gr/news/333912/maria-mpeket-i-eypori-patriotissa-poy-xodepse-ta-panta-gia-ti-dimokratia-kai-perivallon
- ↑ https://www.kathimerini.gr/opinion/732799/maria-mpeket-mia-simantiki-ellinida/
