A/HRC/16/52/Add.4
Individual cases
Christopher Lisowski, aged 50, from Poland, had been detained in the facility for four
days. He was arrested by five police officers who did not beat him but verbally abused him.
He had been living in Greece since 1985. He had to stand most of the day as there was no
room. He slept on a mattress on the floor. He had access to a shower.
R., aged 56, from Iran, had been detained in the facility for one week. He had asthma but
had not seen a doctor. I.R., aged 22, from Afghanistan, had been detained in the facility for
ten days. He had a heart problem and had not seen a doctor either.
A male detainee, aged 25, from Algeria, was arrested on the streets a month ago by ten
police officers on motorcycles because he did not have his documents with him. He was hit
with batons and kicked. When one of the officers wanted to bang his head against a wall, he
pretended to faint and dropped to the ground. He was brought to the hospital for a check-up
where he was neither treated nor were his wounds documented. After two hours he was
transferred to the police station. He was brought to the CID on the fourth floor where he
was placed on a seat outside. He was hit by officers on his arms and back on four occasions
and officers who passed slapped him or spit at him. After approximately 8 hours of
repeated abuse outside the offices he was brought to the arrival cell of the CID for 20 days.
He was not allowed to take a shower during that entire period. The first two days he was
not given any food, later only once a day.
A male detainee, aged 16, from Algeria, was falsely registered as 20. He had been detained
for 7 days despite the possession of valid documents (‘white card’). He said that the officers
threw his documents away. He did not know why and how much longer he would be
detained.
A male detainee, aged 36, from Patras in Greece, was in a cell on his own, downstairs,
after he was hit in the head by a CID officer on his way back from the toilets. He is a strong
injection drug user and has spent five days without any substitute. He was denied access to
the hospital when he was feeling terribly sick because of the lack of heroin. The forensic
expert examined him and concluded he was in intense suffering, needing for medical
observation.
Agiou Panteleimonos Criminal Investigation Department, Athens
Visited on 17 October 2010
The Special Rapporteur was received by CID Commander in charge, Dimitris
Diamantidis. As it was the case at Omonia Police Station, and later at Akropolis Police
Station, detainees held in police custody informed the Special Rapporteur about cells
holding detainees in CID offices. The Ministry of Citizen’s Protection did not mention CID
holding cells and seemed to be unaware of their existence.
On the CID floor, there was one unofficial cell measuring about 11m². There were 10
detainees kept there, sharing 1m² each. It was totally dark and filthy with bad air, and only a
small hole in the wall. There were no windows or lights in the cell. The temperature was
very hot. In addition, many detainees smoked against the stress.
The detainees were too afraid to come out for interviews, and strongly feared of reprisals.
The Special Rapporteur assessed Agiou Panteleimonos CID as being one of the worst place
of detention visited in Greece.
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