"They beat a lot of people if they asked for medicine or any kind of help"
| Between November 2022 and March 2023 | Amygdaleza PRDC, Petrou Ralli PRDC | Anonymous | 45.7908691, 15.9976521 | Detention and Reception Reports | Greece | Amygdaleza PRDC, Petrou Ralli PRDC | Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PRDC) | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | Pakistan | Harsh Language and Insults (Reference to Race, Reference to Gender, Reference to Ability, Reference to Sexuality), Beating (with Batons/Hands/Other), Use of Electric Discharge Weapons, Threats, Theft of Belongings, Use of Isolation | Physical Violence, Psychological Violence, Lack of Information on Rights, Lack of Translation of Documents, Lack of Access to Medical Care, Poor Quality/Quantity of Food and/or Water, Poor Hygiene Conditions, Lack of Free Legal Information, Lack of Access to Hot Water, Lack of Regular Access to Toilet Facilities, Lack of Protection from Weather Conditions, Lack of Artificial/Natural Light, Confiscation of devices, Suspected Dosing of Food/Drinks, Photograph taken, Fingerprints Taken, Lack of Interpretation | Unknown |
On a morning between January and June 2023, the respondent, a man from Pakistan aged 26-30, was on his way to work when he was approached and apprehended by four men and one woman wearing “normal clothes” (not uniforms) driving a white minivan in Kato Patisia in Athens. The respondent explained that at the time of his arrest, he was waiting at the bus stop with approximately 25 to 30 other people, which he described as predominantly from Bangladesh, Pakistan and some African countries. These individuals were also reportedly arrested. The respondent further explained that the ages of the group ranged from 25 to 60 years old, and included one minor aged 15. Reportedly, the officers did not ask the individuals, including the respondent, about their documents and although some people had white cards with them, they were arrested nevertheless. The officers reportedly loaded people into the white van, five at a time, and once the first vehicle was full, they called for another van - which the respondent described as being the same as the first vehicle - to come to the scene. The respondent was reportedly told by the officers that he would be detained for six months.
Once the respondent was loaded into the vehicle, he was driven for what he believed to be approximately half an hour to what the respondent described as a police station called “Aldapon”, officially known as Petrou Ralli Pre-Removal Detention Centre. Upon arrival, the respondent recalled having his belongings, including his phone, confiscated; he did not get these back until he was relocated to another detention site. The respondent explained that he also had his photograph and fingerprints taken at this detention site.
The respondent reported witnessing verbal and physical abuse inflicted on detainees, specifically in cases where people asked for assistance or help, by persons in black uniforms and civilian clothing present at the detention site:“They behaved badly, like verbally. They beat a lot of people if they asked for medicine or any kind of help. They would take us to another place and torture us. Take us to a dark place where you can not see anything.” The respondent could not recall how many officers were present at the detention site but noted that there were many. He also reported that people needing urgent medical attention were not provided with assistance by the personnel at the detention site, referring to a specific incident in which a man aged 18-25 with severe kidney issues was blatantly ignored by officers: “One man in front of me, he had extreme pain in his kidney and he was crying in front of me. He was asking for help but nobody was helping him and he said that he will die and no one will care.” Furthermore, the respondent stated that he also suffered from kidney problems at one point and was beaten using an electric rod and put in isolation after asking for help from the officers: “I was suffering from extreme pain. I went to a policeman, I told him that I was in a very painful situation and asked could he help me? Could he take me to a hospital or to somewhere with a doctor? He said “you are making a drama, you don’t have anything.” So he beat me and he abused me. He had an electrical rod. He beat me and used abusive language and after that he put me in a dark room.”
The respondent reported being kept in that dark room alone for approximately 25 days without access to a toilet, water, a bed or any source of natural light. No food was reportedly provided to detainees and the respondent said he was only provided with food by his friends from outside the detention site. He also described being forced to sign papers in a language he did not understand without any translator provided. “There is no translator and if you refused to sign the paper they said they would keep you and put you in a dark place as a punishment. So you have to sign the paper.”
Reportedly, after approximately 25 days in Petrou Ralli Pre-Removal Detention Centre, at about 12 or one o’clock in the morning, the respondent and 10 other people were loaded into the same white minivan as mentioned before and driven for approximately one hour to Amygdaleza Pre-Removal Detention Centre. The respondent recalled three men in civilian clothing also present in the vehicle. When they arrived at Amygdaleza PRDC the group had their photographs taken, recounted the respondent, and were taken and held in an empty room, “We didn’t have anything there. No beds, no toilet. That day it was so cold and I didn't have anything to keep myself warm.” The respondent noted that officers sometimes took detainees' money and sometimes also took their shoe laces. The respondent was then reportedly moved to another room with four other men from Pakistan. He reported that at no point did he have any access to a lawyer and the only interaction he had with a non-governmental organisation within the facility was over the phone with Mobile Info Team. He explained that he tried to contact the Embassy but no one provided any help to him.
The respondent described how he had attempted to claim asylum in the asylum office in Athens before he was apprehended but it was always unsuccessful. He also stated that he had tried to claim asylum again within Amygdaleza PRDC but was rejected every time on the same day. Reportedly, there was a Pakistani translator present at the detention site that did not translate accurately and was in collaboration with the detention centre officers. “He is not the right person, he is involved with the police and he never translates what we said…the right thing”.
When asked about the conditions in the centre, the respondent stated that the hygiene facilities were extremely poor: “The toilet is so bad. It’s not cleaned. The water is too cold. We cannot even take a shower because it makes our skin numb. We don't have shampoos and soaps. They didn't give us this kind of thing.” He was reportedly given two meals a day but stated that the quality of the food was not fit for animals to eat. He also noted that he believed there was something put in the food to alter the detainees behaviour and mood: “The food is not safe for us to eat because they put some type of medicine in it. We are aggressive and sometimes sleep all the time and have different kinds of issues after eating the food. We have bleeding gums and we experience a lot of bad breath. This food is not healthy for us. Also, the water is not clean and there is a tap from which we drink water like animals.”
When asked about the medical services available within the centre, the respondent replied that there is one doctor present but that they do not actually treat anyone. “They [the doctor] just wants to sit there and wait for it to be time to return home. The doctor just gives us drugs to keep our minds asleep all the time.” According to the respondent there is no wifi available and people share data bought by people amongst themselves.
According to the respondent, the officers at the detention site are verbally abusive and often act aggressively towards detainees when they spend time outside in the open air areas of the site. A friend of the respondent was reportedly beaten by officers in blue uniforms for asking for more time outside. Reportedly, if detainees ever question the treatment or the conditions of the camp, the officers beat people and bring them to isolated rooms where they are not given any food or water:“There are a lot of isolation rooms and mostly they lock us in those rooms so we can’t get food and other things of everyday life. They do this as punishment for raising your voice against the conditions and asking things “like why do you detain us so long? Why are you treating us like this?””
The respondent stated that conflict occasionally arises between detainees due to the poor mental health of many people which is caused by the dire conditions and treatment in the detention centre. When this occurs, officers usually respond by beating people harshly, recounted the respondent. When asked if there is any sort of psychological aid for people, the respondent replied: “The people who have psychiatric issues are locked in different rooms. If a person fights one or two times, they are taken to the doctor and the doctor will give them a kind of injection and he will become more serious, more mentally serious.”
The respondent also noted that he has witnessed pushbacks occurring from Amygdaleza PRDC. He reported that he has seen this happen to “a lot of people” and that the people were “forcefully” pushed back.