A/HRC/16/52/Add.4
Athens. He could not contact her, having no access to a phone. He was very worried about
her, knowing that she has nothing and sleeps on the streets. He complained about the cold.
He was not provided with any clothes or shoes and was barefoot. He had stomach pain but
the doctor only provided him with two tablets that had no effect.
A.A., aged 30, from Iran, was arrested in September at the Greece-Turkey border and
detained at Feres Border Guard Station for twelve days. Upon arrest he was beaten with a
baton on the legs. He was then taken to Alexandroupoli Police Station before the Chief of
Police who issued him a deportation order and an interim detention order. He had been
detained in the Venna facility for eight days and had not been beaten. Every three days
detainees get one hour of exercise. They receive food three times a day but it is often
mouldy. There are no blankets and everyone is cold. The cell is full of mice and
cockroaches. He used the phone by buying an expensive phone card from the guards which
was 4 Euros per minute.
M.A.A and M.T, aged 16, from Iraq, had spent twelve days in the facility. They were first
detained at Feres Border Guard Station. They have not been able to call their family.
Neither had documentation and were not able to prove their ages so they were not identified
as minors. There were 36 people in the cell and this number had stayed constant.
George Kasharian, aged 25, from Palestine, said the police registered him as being from
Iraq. He had been detained in the facility for 90 days, and was here the longest of all.
Hassam Mohammed, aged 28, from Palestine, lost all his family in Palestine and had one
brother in France, who he was trying to join. He was first detained at Feres Border Guard
Station and had been in this facility for one month. Police registered him as being from
Syria. He said the police did this so they can deport him back to Turkey. He received a
deportation order. He was able to understand what it said because he saw an information
note in Arabic that described what the official document said.
Wael Sayed Ramadam, aged 18, from Palestine, had epilepsy and a problem with his
heart. He was detained in the facility for seven days. He requested medical attention and
medical forensic expert who examined him confirmed this need.
Abdau Hassan, aged 22, from Palestine, had been detained in the facility for 15 days.
Police documented him as being from Syria and gave him a deportation order. He said he
was asthmatic (the forensic medical doctor could not confirm this allegation).
Cell 4
Group interview of 21 Georgians and 2 Chechens, who complained primarily about the
conditions of detention and the lack of medical treatment. Six detainees have hepatitis C,
and one had a heart attack and problems with his prostate, without receiving proper medical
assistance. They also have not been informed about the reasons and the length of their
detention. In addition, they do not know what consequences an asylum application would
have. Nobody was beaten by the prison guards, but they are rough and often threaten and
verbally assault them. There is only cold shower and the possibility for one telephone call
per day. They are only allowed in shifts to go out to the open space, which means that they
are outside their cells only every third day for roughly one hour. The director, although
mentioning detainees can stay out about 2 hours every third day, confirmed this policy and
tried to justify it with security reasons and lack of staff. Six Georgians prefer to go back to
Georgia rather than staying in these inhuman conditions any longer.
Alexi Tsoulelskiri, from Georgia, has been granted asylum in Austria and had lived there
for four and a half years before he went to Georgia to visit his sick mother. On his way
back via Turkey, he crossed the border to Greece by foot and was arrested.
38
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