- 17 At Athens Police Headquarters (7th floor) and Drapetzona Police Station, the material conditions appeared to have improved since the 2001 visit. Nevertheless, additional efforts need to be made in respect of cleanliness, and women detainees should be provided with sanitary napkins. Conditions in Athens Police Headquarters are not suitable for holding persons for more than a few days, due inter alia to the absence of outdoor exercise facilities; yet the delegation noted that in the month of August 2005 alone, some 55 persons spent more than three days in detention, and one person 22 days; overcrowding is also a constant problem. It appeared that Drapetzona Police Station was used almost exclusively for the purpose of holding immigration detainees, and sometimes for prolonged periods. While there was an integral covered exercise area in both the men’s and women’s cell blocks, there were absolutely no activities nor any reading material, television or other distractions. At Kypseli Police Station, the renovations since the 2001 visit had improved the conditions in the basement detention area. However, access to natural light and artificial lighting were still inadequate and the ventilation poor, and more could be done to maintain hygiene and cleanliness. The CPT is particularly concerned to note that immigration detainees were being kept in the cells for periods up to three months with no access to any exercise yard or activities. This is unacceptable. 25. The conditions of detention at Omonia Police Station in Athens were deplorable. The cell block, located on the first floor, comprised six cage-like compartments and had an official capacity of 34 (27 men in five cells and 7 women in one cell). There was no call bell and normally there were no police officers inside the cell area or even on the same floor. Despite denials from the senior police officer on duty, the delegation noted from the records, and from interviews with detainees and staff, that frequently the cell block accommodated over 40, and on occasion more than 50, detainees overnight; for example, the seven detainees in one cell, measuring 20.5m² (with seven concrete plinths), explained to the delegation how only three days earlier an additional eight persons had been crammed into the cell overnight, and claimed that none of them had been provided with mattresses or blankets. There was virtually no natural light and the artificial lighting was inappropriate leaving the cells in semi-darkness; it was hot and humid with no fresh air; the ventilation, switched on during the delegation’s visit, was extremely loud and appeared ineffective. There were many complaints about the lack of food and water, and some female detainees claimed they had to drink water from the toilet. For the male detainees there was a single communal toilet and shower, and many of them complained that access to the toilet was not possible at night (one cell had integral sanitation but the toilet was broken). More generally, the whole facility was dirty, extremely stuffy and dilapidated. The vast majority of the persons being kept in this police station were immigration detainees, and the delegation met four persons who had been there more than 75 days; spending up to three months in such conditions with no access to an exercise yard nor to any activities could be considered as amounting to inhuman and/or degrading treatment. In the holding room, on the floor above the detention area, the delegation noted a pair of handcuffs attached to one of the metal legs of the bench running the length of the wall. A handcuffed person would have been forced either to lie on the floor or to sit, doubled over, on the bench in an uncomfortable position. There can be no justification for such placement of handcuffs.