On 27 September 2005, Petrou Ralli, opened its doors, as one of the first specially designed centres for the purposes of detaining foreign nationals (Circular No. 38 of 23.12.2005 of the Ministry of Interior (OG 212 Α’/23.08.05), operating without a clear legal framework. Even before it was inaugurated, this site was criticized by CPT due to its carceral environment and resemblance to a police station. It was, CPT suggested, a missed opportunity to conform to EU standards. In 2007, when the next CPT delegation visited the centre, these initial concerns proved to be well founded.

Detainees in the facility are housed in cells along a corridor each of which has five cement beds. Entry to these rooms is through a barred, locked iron door, which affords detainees no privacy. The second floor holds men and the third floor used to house women. A small wing on the third floor originally detained children but is now, primarily, used for ill people. According to the Greek Ombudsman, in November 2021, the wing included a man with hepatitis, another man HIV positive and a person with mental health problems. Officially, children were transferred to the minors’ detention centre in Amygdaleza in 2012, but evidence suggests the facility continued to house minors, particularly when there was no other accommodation available for those transferred from the islands. The CPT referred to children still being held there as recently as mid-2016, and heavily criticised the conditions in the centre, especially for children. While no women were held in Petrou Railli between 2015 to 2017, following the closure of the Elliniko women’s facility in January 2017, women detainees were once more located there on the top floor. The Elliniko women’s facility was closed in January 2017 when the police evacuated the centre following a protest rally, and transferred women to Petrou Ralli, ostensibly for their security.

The facility has a visitors’ room off the main corridor on the second floor comprised of metal sections with a screen in-between the detainee and the visitor. It is a dirty and unwelcoming space. In 2016 a new healthcare area opened on the second floor. Before that, the doctors and socio-psychological units were accommodated in two small and unwelcoming rooms.

In general, the centre has a deep and systematic history of rights violations that are extremely alarming. When it first opened, detainees in Petrou Railli were confined in their cells all day, despite provisions for an outdoor area, which reportedly was not fit for use. During a visit in 2008, Human Rights Watch, met an Iraqi Kurd, who had been held for three months during which he had only been outside for 12 hours. New arrivals were not provided with clean sheets and blankets and much of the bedding was dirty. As in other centres, there was little to no access to toilets at night, leaving detainees with no choice but to urinate in bottles or defecate in plastic bags. In the cases of S.D. in 2009, R.U. in 2011, and Bygylashvili in 2012, the ECtHR ruled that the conditions of detention in the centre amounted to ill-treatment.

Indeed, as research conducted in 2011, corroborates ‘entering Petrou Ralli it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the noise, the smell, and the dirt. Walls are painted an institutional light green and yellow. The floors are unwashed. In the men’s section, the smell of urine is pervasive. Everywhere, the stench of anxiety is palpable.’ Concerns were focused on the serious overcrowding - leading to several detainees sleeping on the floor - the lack of privacy, lack of access to the outdoors, requirement for people to request permission to use the bathroom forcing people to defecate in plastic bags, unsanitary spaces resulting in an overpowering smell, lack of recreational activities causing severe deterioration of psychological health and general understanding of detainees own situations being minimal. Detainees then spent little time outside their cells and had nothing to do inside them other than to sit or lie on their beds all day. The listlessness was patent: ‘We are not doing anything, nothing. We end up sleeping all the time,’ Chiora (pseudonym) from Georgia complained. For many it is distressing, ‘I fear I’m going to die here’, June (pseudonym) from the Dominican Republic protested. Under these conditions, staff and detainees struggled to understand what was happening. Some staff members were critical: ‘It’s much worse than a prison.’ Alex claimed. ‘It’s the trap of temporary detention that doesn’t allow us to have the privileges of a prison. They are psychologically distressed here, I would go crazy myself.’

In 2015 the CPT had reported the clear lack of an integrated approach in the delivery of health care…the poor mental health-care services available, the lack of medical screening upon arrival, long delays in the delivery of health-care and the lack of medication and its intermittent application for persons who are not in a position to purchase the prescribed medication.

In 2016 the Petrou Ralli holding facility was rebranded as a pre-removal centre. This new label, however, did not change institutional conditions or practices. According to research conducted in 2016:

The facility was dingy and poorly maintained, with damaged floors, walls and ceilings. There were 5-6 police officers in uniform walking around the corridor but none on the detainee units. While there were cameras in the corridors, it was unclear how effective they would have been in monitoring what was happening on the wings. Detainees flocked to the gates as we walked down the corridor of the centre’.

The CPT’s report from 2017 corroborates these findings:

The material conditions were very poor. Most of the barred cells in the four male wings on the second floor were filthy, stuffy and infested; mattresses and blankets were generally worn and dirty. The communal sanitary annexes were unhygienic and in a poor state of repair and detainees complained that they did not receive sufficient hygiene and cleaning products. Further, detainees were locked in their cells for much of the day and the delegation found that outdoor exercise was not offered on a daily basis to all detainees and, at times, the amount of time offered hardly exceeded 15 minutes.

NGO ARSIS implemented an intervention programme supported by UNHCR in Tavros (Petrou Ralli) in 2017, carrying out weekly visits to provide legal support for unaccompanied minors, families, young adults and vulnerable cases in detention. This revealed several incidents including self harm by minors, arson and beating and forced undressing by officers against two unaccompanied minors.

In May 2018 a fire broke out in one of the cells. Even though it was quickly put out and left no casualties, it managed to burn a whole wing. The fire had allegedly been started as a sign of protest against the conditions inside the facility. The police response was immediate and vengeful. The 10 persons, who were thought to be implicated in this were ill-treated and transferred to an unknown situation. The rest of the detainees faced other repercussions, such as less food, no electricity, etc. The Border Criminologies research team revisited the centre in 2018. According to the authorities, they did not have the financial capacity to renovate the burned wing, which meant less capacity and more overcrowding on the other wings. Several detainees complained about broken phones and the director later said this was a result of detainees damaging them every week. The intense atmosphere in the centre was indicative of both a stressful physical environment and a high degree of frustration about cases. The layout of the women’s section was the same as the men’s cells but the atmosphere was recorded to be calmer. The cell doors were kept open all day so that women could move around. There was some graffiti in the cells but most of it looked like children’s drawings. It was cold and damp and the women were sitting on their beds - they seemed bored.

In 2021 the facility was visited by the National Preventive Mechanism. Given Covid-restrictions, the team only visited one wing and spoke to no detained persons. According to the report, conditions were improved compared to previous visits, with facilities being reportedly cleaner and in better state and the population significantly decreased.

There have not been any follow up visits to Tavros (Petrou Ralli) since 2016, and since it officially became a PRDC. This is alarming, considering the extensive reports of concerns raised by the CPT in the past. The CPT visited the facility in December 2023 and the report is due to come out soon.