that could theoretically be used to provide fresh air and exercise, in fact, except for those interviewed by Human Rights Watch, none of the detainees had ever been allowed into the yard. The smaller of the two rooms doesn’t even have a door that leads to the yard. Some of the men who we picked for interviews had to wait for a long time in the courtyard. When a Human Rights Watch interviewer apologized to one of the last men to be interviewed for making him wait, he responded that sitting in the sun waiting for his interview was the best day he had spent at Edirne: “I have been here four times. I have never before been out in the yard.” The strongest first impressions of Edirne are the overcrowding, the desperation, the stench and the grime. A man claiming to be Somali spoke about living in extremely cramped conditions: There are not enough mattresses here for even half the people in this room. Every mattress has at least two or three people sleeping face to foot. Some people sit up all night waiting for other people to wake up so they can take their place on the mattress and sleep. We have no space. You have to step on top of other people to go to the toilet.117 An 18-year-old Somali spoke about the overcrowding and his inability to keep clean: When it’s crowded, there is no place to lie down. Someone trampled on me one night, but I said to myself, what’s the point of hitting him… The blankets are worn out and never washed or aired. I am getting a rash on my arms [shows dry flaky patches on his arms]. I think this is coming from the blanket and mattress. They smell very bad, but we have no choice. I have itching on my private parts… There are three toilets. Cleaning them is not a routine process at all. I myself try to clean them. It’s a Turkish toilet. The police don’t come into the room. They speak to us from the door like you did.118 117 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, B-109), Edirne, June 13, 2008. 118 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, E-158), Edirne, June 13, 2008. Stuck in a Revolving Door 54