12. Hunger strikes 84 between five. We put the rubbish in a cardboard box in our cell, which they empty once a week. The cell is cold and smelly. I have no towel and the water is usually cold. You know, you have to call the police a hundred times before they come once. I was never allowed to go into the yard. I don’t know if meals will be served. They always forget one meal. And you know, I’ve never seen toilet paper in here. I thought I would be able to continue my political resistance abroad. Now I’m just struggling to survive. Our comrades and families we left behind are in prison. I wish they could be with us and I would like to express my solidarity even now, from behind bars. We haven’t forgotten you. And I want to ask you, why do we have to be in prison again? In Iran there’s no freedom of expression. Here there’s no possibility. I want you to think about this: exploitation, habit and prayer. When exploitation becomes a habit, we usually pray for our freedom, but we should struggle for it!« From the detainees of the prison of Soufli We, the detainees of this prison who sign this petition, denounce the behaviour of the police, the detention conditions, the lack of hygiene, the bad quality of food served and we ask for your full support. Beneath we describe in short the detention conditions in here: First of all: in reality, the place in which we, the refugees, are detained is in all respects miserable and unacceptable. As regards cleanness, the lack of essential human needs has put the lives of refugees in danger. The toilets are without doors, there are not enough windows and light, and the stink is incredibly bad. In the cells, people sleep on top of the other. At times, when the number of prisoners increases, refugees also sleep in front of the toilets. Even in the toilets, people were folding out cardboard on which to sleep, if there was no other space available. When the refugees get sick, the »doctor« gives only »Depon« [Paracetamol] for all kinds of diseases. 248 http://migrantsrightswatch.org/news/2010/12/message-from4-hunger-strikers-evros—-greece/194736 249 F.H. from Iran; October 29, 2011 – Athens In a letter that was spread over the internet they say about Soufli prison: »Dirty place, bad police behaviour. Beatings every day! […]. We have tolerated 100 days in here. We cannot live under such conditions again. We are not tourists. We did not leave our countries, just for a »better life«. Our lives are in danger back in Iran. We took the risk to cross the borders to Greece, to seek protection and be in a safer place. Now we see that nobody wants to help us here. We didn’t expect that! We hope that someone will listen to our human rights«.248 B.M. was released after more than five months after having challenged his detention twice before the court. B.M. applied for asylum in detention. His request has been rejected while still in detention. He appealed against the rejection. B.M., allegedly, is a victim of torture. Our situation here is really tragic and miserable. In the places we sleep, the garbage smells and the dirt of the toilets has made us all sick. The conditions under which we have to live here have made us forget that we are human beings. We are really sorry for the police behaviour. How could such conditions exist in a European country, which is considered to have laws and respect for human rights? Why is someone detained in here for 20 days, another for two months and someone else for six months? If there is a law, is that law not equally valid for all? Why, in the previous months, were Afghans released overnight and the Iranians are still here? Is that not discrimination? We are nine refugees on hunger strike, and demand freedom. We cannot stand the conditions in here anymore. Patience has its limits. We have reached our limit. Our hunger strike is our right to freedom. We hope that you will listen to our voices and react. Signatures of the nine hunger strikers