- 12 a. police directorates and stations 17. The police directorates and stations visited by the delegation were equipped with cells, in principle designed for holding criminal suspects and suitable for short periods of detention. However, all of them were used to hold foreign nationals detained under the Aliens’ legislation for weeks and on occasion for months (up to 10 months in certain cases). 18. The new detention facilities at the Police Station at Athens Airport (East Terminal) had entered into service a few days prior to the delegation’s visit, and were in general of an acceptable standard. They comprised two basement cells (measuring some 15 m²), each equipped with three plinths with clean mattresses and blankets. Artificial light and ventilation were adequate; however, the cells’ small windows let in only a limited amount of natural light. 19. As regards conditions of detention in the rest of the police stations visited, they displayed a number of serious shortcomings. The detention facility located on the 7th floor of Attica General Police Directorate had been the subject of several recommendations of an urgent nature in the report on the 1997 visit. Regrettably, far from being improved, the situation in the facility in question had in fact deteriorated. At the time of the 1999 visit, 171 persons (97 men and 74 women) were being held in the facility, the official capacity of which was 80.2 The delegation was told that several days earlier the overcrowding had been even more severe: in the detainees' words, they had had "to fight to get a mattress". Over a third of the detainees slept in the detention area’s corridors, which were so densely covered with mattresses, blankets and bags containing personal possessions that delegation members had problems accessing the cells. Some of the detainees were obliged to sleep in close proximity to the sanitary facilities, which were in a poor state of repair, with water overflowing into the corridors; further, in the women’s section, such detainees were exposed to the cold and draught coming through a broken window in the toilets. The supply of hot water was said to be erratic. rd On the day of the visit, the detention facility for juveniles on the 3 floor of Attica General Police Directorate was holding 7 foreign nationals (2 girls and 5 boys), the youngest of whom was 12 years old. As in 1997, material conditions in the facility's three cells were of an acceptable standard for short stays. However, one of the girls had already spent 45 days in custody, and one boy had been held there for 30 days. Throughout this time, their only means of distraction had been occasionally watching TV in the police officers' room. 20. No improvements were observed in the detention facilities at Drapetzona Police Station, which had been the subject of an immediate observation under Article 8, paragraph 5, of the Convention at the time of the 1997 visit; if anything, the situation had got worse. On the day of the visit, the establishment was holding 86 foreign nationals, as opposed to 31 in 1997. The establishment's official capacity had been fixed at 85 persons. Regardless of what the official capacity may be, the establishment was overcrowded, in particular the women’s section. The cell set aside for detainees of Albanian origin had no access to natural light, and ventilation was poor. Further, the sanitary facilities were dirty, deprived of lighting and in a bad state of repair. Detainees complained - and the delegation ascertained by itself - that there was a shortage of hot water. 2 There were twenty cells divided into two sections (ten for men and ten for women), each measuring some 12 m² and intended for a 4-person occupancy.