A/HRC/16/52/Add.4
Individual cases
Block A
This block was completely overcrowded and detainees were very noisy and restless. The
conditions of hygiene were very bad. The Special Rapporteur observed many cockroaches
and bugs. It was cold, and most detainees complained about the lack of food, and its
quality.
Stan Marius, aged 23, Cubahit Gabriel Adrian, aged 30, Borhan Mihai, aged 29,
Damalache Tudor Costel, aged 34, and Davel Ilie Stefat, aged 22, had been detained on
remand for four to six months. They have not alleged any abuse during arrest or in the
prison. They complained about the discrimination of foreigners in accessing a workplace.
They expressed concerns that in the prisons they mix serious criminals with pre-trial
detainees. Also they criticized that there is no initial blood test upon arrival at the prison
thus exposing them to a risk of infectious diseases, in particular tuberculosis and
HIV/AIDS. The quality of the medical treatment was said to be very bad. The doctor would
not really listen to the detainees but only hand out painkillers. One of the detainees recently
fainted due to a kidney problem and the doctor’s advice was to drink more water. The
quality of the food was very poor. The detainees tried to always cook by themselves which
was difficult since there were no refrigerators available. They complained about the
mattresses being very dirty and uncomfortable leading to back pain. The biggest problem
was said to be the overall poor hygiene of the prison with cockroaches everywhere.
Male detainees from Ghana, Nigeria and Somalia have not received sufficient clothes or
clean blankets. They complained about the filthiness of the mattresses that are infested with
cockroaches.
A male detainee, from Greece, was serving a 32 year sentence for trafficking 3.2 tonnes of
cocaine. He had served three years to date in the facility. He had a lawyer. His wife and
child visited him once a week for 15 minutes behind a glass barrier. He saw his child one
time a month in an open setting. Many people used heroin inside the facility. There was
easy access as the drugs were thrown over the fence. If they needed medicine they had to
pay for it themselves. There were no library facilities. If they undertook an educational
program it helped reduce the amount of time to be served.
Block C
The atmosphere is extremely tense because the prisoners in the first and second floors,
where the fights occurred some days prior to the visit, were still locked down. Prisoners
were shouting, banging the doors, and started to light fires both outside and inside the
building.
A male detainee, aged 39, from Greece, speaking German was heavily beaten and kicked
during his arrest by the police 8 months ago. He was arrested for possession of hashish,
since Greece has one of the harshest drug laws in the world. There is no therapy for drugs.
If the police claim that one has drugs, one must prove the opposite. Police officers also
stole personal belongings, such as computers, from the detainees. The worst police station,
in his opinion, was Kalifea Police Station. Legal aid lawyers were not efficient as they just
have finished their law studies. Since he had money, he had two of the best lawyers and
will be brought to court on 8 December 2010. He has spent already 8 months in pre-trial
detention. The conditions in the prison, apart from the overcrowding, were alright if you
had money. The food is so bad that he did not eat it, but he could cook his own food. His
lawyer has managed that he got one of the few jobs in prison. Because of the sun collectors,
there is only 5 minutes hot water in the morning and 5 minutes in the afternoon. His parents
could visit him twice a week for 2 hours each. On average, there was one death in prison
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