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annual report 2010
ing 25 for ten. There was sufficient room for everyone to lie down. There were
18 toilets and, according to the police, everyone who needed to visit the toilet
was able to do so within a reasonable period of time. Asked whether the just
over 900 people detained on 12 December 2009 were able to visit the toilet, the
police said: ‘Certainly there were no accidents and nobody waited more than
an hour.’ There were many pallets with water in plastic bottles and numerous
mats and blankets in the production hall. The hall was also very well heated.
According to the police, everybody had been given water in plastic bottles on
request as well as a chicken sandwich on 12 December 2009. In addition to
the cages and toilets, there was a registration section with approx. ten counters.
Here all detainees were given a guide to their rights before they were locked in
the cages. The guide was in five different languages. At registration, everyone
was allowed to call a relative or a lawyer – either on their own mobile phone or
using the police telephone. The production hall also had a separate, screened-off
sick bay, which was manned by doctors on 12 December 2009 and after that
according to need. On that day, the police had also ensured that the 24-hour
Social Service was available to look after any children.
The climate cages only had room for approx. 350 people, so they were inadequate for the just over 900 people who were bussed from Amagerbrogade to
Retortvej on 12 December 2009. According to the police, approx. 600 persons
were registered while sitting on the buses and subsequently released without being detained in the cages. They were released on a continuous basis and driven
to nearby metropolitan train stations.
In its reply to the OPCAT Unit’s written questions about the waiting rooms,
the police subsequently confirmed the findings of the inspection. The police
also provided the OPCAT Unit with many other details for use in its investigation of the police’s handling of the detainees.
On Friday 18 December 2009, the OPCAT Unit asked the Copenhagen Police
to reply to a number of questions about the police’s handling of those detained
in connection with the demonstrations during the climate summit, especially
the largest demonstration at Amagerbrogade.
In its reply, the police confirmed among other things that 600-700 people
had to wait for more than an hour at Amagerbrogade, that the police had not
organised water, food or something to sit on and that a doctor and ambulance
had not been called for the detainees until a person got cramps after sitting
for approx. 2½ hours on the ground at Amagerbrogade. In addition, the police
confirmed that it was correct that the detainees – with a few exceptions – were
not able to visit a toilet.
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