A/HRC/16/52/Add.4 31. The Special Rapporteur received, however, several consistent allegations of illtreatment by border-guard officers of detainees upon arrest, and later in the border-guard station. Detainees mentioned kicks, slaps, or being pushed, mostly when they did not understand or follow the officers’ orders immediately, or when they made complaints. This seems to be particularly the case at Soufli Border Guard Station. However, the forensic expert could corroborate these statements with medical evidence in only a few cases. 32. In general, most of the detainees complained about the rough tone and attitude of the officers towards them, and stated that the miscommunication arising from the language barrier led to reactions of impatience from the officers, who lacked empathy and respect towards them. 33. The Special Rapporteur received a few complaints of ill-treatment in the migration detention centres, which consisted mainly of verbal abuse. Most of the detainees pointed out that the attitude of the staff was very rough and often impolite, particularly at the registration when refusing to give fingerprints. The Special Rapporteur could witness that the interactions between the overwhelmed and frustrated staff and the detainees were aggressive and tense, in particular in the migration detention centre in Venna. This was further worsened by the language barrier. 34. Detainees expressed reluctance to lodge official complaints while in detention due to the ineffective complaints mechanism33 and the lack of procedural guarantees against deportation. Aliens have an additional obstacle in the language barrier and the lack of interpretation services provided by the State, preventing them to make an oral or written complaint about conditions of detention, or ill-treatment. 2. Judicial prisons 35. The Special Rapporteur did not encounter complaints by prisoners of beatings by the officers at judicial prisons. Despite the difficult working conditions of the guards in Greek prisons, most seem to have a professional attitude towards detainees. C. Impunity 36. The lack of an effective complaints mechanism, independent investigation and monitoring create an environment of powerlessness for victims of physical abuse. According to the statistics sent by Greece to the Committee Against Torture in September 2010, in the period from 2005 to 2009, a total of 281 complaints were investigated for police ill-treatment; disciplinary sanctions were imposed in 13 cases involving 21 police officers.34 During this period, in 140 of the 281 complaints for abuse and ill-treatment there was no corresponding criminal charge. According to the Government this was because either no charges were brought against the police or the administrative inquiries did not find that a criminal offence had been committed.35 33 34 35 10 Neither Law 3386/2005 nor any other national legislation provides for a legal remedy to which a detained migrant or asylum seeker can resort in order to complain about conditions of detention. Amnesty Report Greece: Irregular Migrants and Asylum –Seekers routinely detained in substandard conditions (July 2010) pg. 21. Sanctions imposed were the following: four, removed from service; three, suspensded with dismissal; five, suspension with temporary dismissal; nine, a monetary fine. Greece, combined fifth and sixth periodic report, submitted under article 19 of CAT on 20 September 2010.