75 11. Violence Police violence and violence among detainees occur very often ■ Violence is common reality in detention. To start with, detainees permanently suffer from structural violence resulting from detention conditions (e.g. overcrowded cells, exhaustion from not knowing what will happen, overstrained officers). Detention conditions in Evros in themselves constitute a form of ill-treatment. the door of the hospital, the police put handcuffs on my hands again. They took me straight back to the cell. The next morning, I was taken to the director. I was forced to sign a paper saying that I was not ill-treated by the police. I was forced to sign it! Today I still have the scars in my face.«218 Unsurprisingly, violence among inmates is quick to erupt. There are frequent fights over, for example a place to sleep, access to the phone, a place close to fresh air, meals, access to toilet, sexual harassment, different political backgrounds in the country of origin etc. 11.1. Ill-treatment by the police »Once there was big fight among the inmates in Soufli. It was about basic things, like a place to sleep. The police watched us being beaten up, and they never interfered although we were calling for help. At that moment, we were 220 persons inside the cell. Almost at the end of the fight, someone threw something like a stone on my head and in my face. I fainted. For three hours my friends were shouting for a doctor, but the police said I was faking the injury although I was covered with blood and lying on the floor. It was around 3 o’clock in the morning. I was still half unconscious when they pulled me out of the cell with all the blood on my clothes. They put handcuffs on my hands and pushed me into a van. They brought me to the health centre in Soufli. The nurses and doctors got very angry when they saw in what bad condition I arrived there and that I was wearing handcuffs. They were shouting at the officers to release my hands but they wouldn’t. They could not treat me there so I was brought to the hospital in Alexandroupolis. Only when inside the building did they release my handcuffs. The doctor sewed my wounds and took X-rays. On leaving, and right after passing 218 O.H. from Iran; October 29, 2011 – Athens (detained in Feres, Soufli, Venna and Fylakio) Police violence in detention in Evros varies from verbal to physical assault. »Monkey« and »Malaka« have been reported to us as common insults used by some officers to denigrate detainees. We repeatedly witnessed improper and aggressive behaviour by certain policemen towards the detainees. Again and again, detainees reported of ill-treatment by police officers. Sometimes they complained that after the ill-treatment the police denied them access to medical care and contact to the outside world. Detainees recounted kicks, slaps, beatings with globs and punches on all parts of the body. In some cases, the injuries were so severe that they had to be transferred to hospital. In at least one case that we were reported the severity of the ill-treatment amounted to torture. Reportedly, detainees are ill-treated either inside their cells, in other rooms, or outside of the detention centre – in front of others or in secret. In some cases, violence seems to be a way to punish detainees for protesting over detention conditions and to intimidate and discourage future protests.