The NPM raised the case of an alleged assault by police on several Algerian detainees[41], which the Ombudsman’s office was aware of as part of its role in investigating arbitrary behaviour by law enforcement officials. The director said that the detainees had created problems in other centres and were never prosecuted. He said he wanted to build a special centre for asylum seekers who were also criminals, and put more energy into constructing a case against these detainees. This was an inadequate response to and exploration of the concern that had been raised. The NPM then raised the case of a man who alleged that he was raped by five other detainees. The director eventually released him because he did not know what else to do with him. Five people were apparently prosecuted. No further details were provided on this case. The director wanted the Greek Ombudsman (and NPM) to think more about the difficult position of centre staff and what they had to deal with. He said that he wanted to change the environment to be more suitable as an immigration removal centre, but found it difficult to see how he could, given the existing infrastructure. While the attention to staff matters is important, the role of the NPM is to safeguard the human rights of those who are detained. Conditions and treatment of detainees in Petrou Ralli Men’s wings Detainees gathered around the gates as we entered the main corridor. The guards were standing in the corridor and did not interact with them. One wing had been closed as a result of a cell fire lit by a detainee, which meant there was less capacity in the centre and more crowding on the other wings (see photographs, appendix one). On the closed wing, there were five concrete bed plinths in each cell. There was little opportunity for privacy; metal bars divided the cells from the corridor, so that anyone standing outside a cell could see in. Toilets were at the ends of the wings. There were about 45 people to one wing. When the NPM staff walked onto an occupied wing, they were quickly surrounded. The corridor became blocked and they walked no more than three metres before they were unable to go any further because of the number of people waiting to speak to them, nearly always about their cases. A police officer stood close-by and could hear all of the conversations. He assumed the role of a security buffer between the NPM and the detainees. The discussions with detainees were loud, chaotic and disorganised. We could not see past the detainees into the cells. The rights of detainees were written in Arabic, Farsi, French and Greek and attached to the wing door. There was very noticeable, large graffiti on the corridor wall, which said ‘Fuck the police’ in English. Several detainees complained about broken phones and the director later said this was a result of detainees damaging them every week. The intense atmosphere on this wing was indicative of both a stressful physical environment and a high degree of frustration about cases. The detainees asked many questions about why they were there and when they would be able to get out. Individual cases included: [41] The detainees were prosecuted and found guilty of disobedience and resistance to the authorities. No legal action taken against the staff despite CCTV evidence suggesting unprovoked and excessive use of force resulting in injury. The episode is currently been investigated by the Ombudsman’s National Mechanism for the Investigation of Arbitrary Incidents (Ombudsman, 2019). See video footage of some of the incident at: https://vimeo.com/263669753 Last accessed 19.7.19. See also, ‘Are you Syrious Special: Tragic Story of 8 Algerian Men from Petrou Ralli’, 20 November 2017. Last accessed 18.7.19. Available at: https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-special-tragic-story-of-8-algerian-men-frompetrou-ralli-719eea82340 26