III. Inhuman and Degrading Detention Conditions “I am originally from a land of war, but I never saw suffering like I see here.” —Iraqi detainee, Tychero, November 2010 Detention Conditions In December 2010, during the RABIT deployment, Human Rights Watch visited detention centers in the Evros region of Greece. We found that the Greek authorities were holding migrants, including members of vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied children, for weeks or months in conditions that amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. Fylakio According to Brigadier General Georgios Salamagkas, head of the Police Directorate of Orestiada, the Fylakio migrant detention center, located about 12 kilometers from the border in northeastern Greece, housed 450 detainees at the time of our visit,80 while its capacity, according to the FRA, is 375.81 The large overcrowded cells were equipped with rows of bunk beds. Unlike in other places (Tychero, Feres, and Soufli) the authorities here had separated men from single women, but unaccompanied children and unrelated adults were held together in most cells. Families were held in cells with single men. Upon our arrival, the many detainees pressed with bodies and faces against the bars, some of them shouting, eager to be "chosen" for an interview. The atmosphere was tense, occasionally breaking into shouting in protest, following a riot the previous day. Sewage was running on the floors. According to the Greek guards, this was because the prisoners broke the toilets, while protesting against their conditions.82 The smell was hard to bear, and Greek guards wore surgical masks when they entered the passageway between the large barred cells. A 14-year-old Afghan boy who had been detained for 43 days at the time we interviewed him, said, “The toilet is broken. The sewage comes out. There's a very bad smell. If a person comes here, 100 percent he will get sick."83 Another 16-year-old Afghan boy who 80 Human Rights Watch interview with Georgios Salamagkas, Orestiada, December 1, 2010. 81 Note that this number is different from the one provided to us by Leszek Szymanski of Frontex, who indicated the capacity was 320. 82 Note that Manfred Nowak also reported seeing feces and urine on the floor in the living quarters during his visit in October 2010, Human Rights Council Report, March 4, 2001, p.34. 83 Human Rights Watch Interview S-18, Fylakio, December 1, 2010. 29 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2011