The CPT delegation visited Venna in February 2007, and noted that “the conditions had not improved since the 2005 visit.”173 Peplos At the time of the Human Rights Watch visit the Peplos facility had been recently closed for renovations (and by one unconfirmed account was reported as being permanently closed174). But Human Rights Watch heard relatively recent accounts of conditions there, such as this testimony about conditions in the winter of 2007: The police caught us at Soufli. They screamed at us, made us lie on the ground, and took our phones. They took us to Peplos where we were held for three days. It was really dirty, disgusting. Even the blankets were filthy. I saw the year 1997 written on a tag on a blanket. The bed was made of cement. There were 80 or 90 of us in a very small room. The toilet was on the side of the room with no barrier. There was no air circulation to take the smell of the toilet outside. I never saw a nurse or a doctor. People who were sick were told they would be released soon. We had no interview. No fingerprints.175 The Greek Islands176 Samos -- Old and New The Samos facility that Human Rights Watch was allowed to tour is an enormous improvement over the old facility that was in operation until November 2007. Human Rights Watch observed a clean facility with laundry machines, good toilets and showers, a basketball court, a dining hall, and a playground for children. The barracks house likenationality groups and while they still are crowded, detainees can go in and out of the barracks during the day. Although Human Rights Watch was not allowed to talk privately 173 CPT Report to Greece, February 8, 2008, p. 18, para. 31, citing CPT/Inf (2006) p. 41, para. 61. 174 Ibid., p. 17, para. 27. It says, “[T]he CPT welcomes the closure of the Peplos holding facility for aliens.” However, wellplaced NGO sources in Greece told Human Rights Watch that the Peplos facility remains open and that the authorities do not intend to close it. 175 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, B-108), Edirne, June 13, 2008. 176 Because Human Rights Watch is issuing a separate report on unaccompanied children in Greece, this report will not document conditions on the islands of Leros and Kos, which are covered in that report. See Human Rights Watch, Left to Survive: Protection Breakdown for Unaccompanied Children in Greece., December 2008. 73 Human Rights Watch November 2008