- 39 82. The single cell (6m²) in the Mytilini Port Authority building has been refurbished and the deficiencies pointed out in the CPT’s report on the 2005 visit60 remedied. Criminal suspects were usually only held in the cell for a few hours; in the course of the first nine months of 2009, only one of the eight persons detained had been held overnight. 83. The Patras Port Authority building was destroyed during the 2008 earthquake and a new building, which should include a detention area, was scheduled to be constructed in 2010. In the meantime, persons apprehended by the Port Authority were being held in two metal structure containers, one of which was partitioned to create a discrete area for women detainees. The Harbour Master informed the delegation that irregular migrants should normally be held for only short periods, but that recently the Port Authority had had to detain persons for much longer as the Patras Police were apparently not in a position to receive the irregular migrants sooner. 84. At the time of the visit, the conditions in these two containers were totally unacceptable and could be described as inhuman and degrading. The containers were poorly ventilated, stuffy and dimly lit with very limited access to natural light, and they were devoid of any furnishings; the wooden floors were strewn with blankets and clothes, clearly infested, and upon which detainees slept; no mattresses were provided; and a hose pipe served as a shower. The state of hygiene was appalling and many persons were suffering from skin infections; the reportedly twice monthly disinfections were evidently not sufficient. Detainees were apparently taken to two portable toilets located outside the containers three times a day, but were always handcuffed to another detainee each time they went to the toilet; the limited access to an outside toilet was evident in the row of plastic bottles, filled with urine, lined up in a corner of each container. Food was provided twice a day, at 15h00 and 22h00, but many inmates complained about the lack of access to drinking water. No outdoor exercise was offered. On the day of the visit, one container was holding 15 men in some 27m² while the other container, partitioned into two separate areas, held nine men in 17m² and two women in 10m². A number of the persons met had been held in these conditions for seven to eleven days, which was not uncommon according to the registers; further, the numbers detained on occasion amounted to as many as 45 at one time. In addition, persons placed in the containers were not provided with any information, in a language they could understand, about their detention and their rights. 85. The CPT’s delegation made an immediate observation at the end of the visit, requesting that the Greek authorities immediately take the metal structure containers out of service, citing the unacceptable conditions of detention and the public health risk they posed (see paragraph 11). By letter of 4 March 2010, the Greek authorities informed the Committee that the two metal structure containers had been taken out of service following the meeting of the Minister of Citizen's Protection with the CPT's delegation on 18 January 2010, that the detainees had been transferred to special police detention facilities and that new accommodation would be constructed in the Port area. This action is to be welcomed. The CPT would like to receive details about the design and capacity of the proposed new detention facility. 60 See CPT/Inf (2006) 41, paragraph 46.