10 days. Aside from some biographical information about the death of his parents in Afghanistan, he was only able to say, “This is not a good place. I am sick. For one month, nobody has taken care of me.”169 Human Rights Watch was able to interview a number of former detainees from the Venna detention facility.170 A 28-year-old Iraqi man from Baghdad was held in the Venna facility for three months in 2007 after being caught trying to leave Greece at the Patras port. He said that most of the detainees at Venna were caught at Patras and were being held for the maximum three-month period, which he interpreted as punishment for being caught at Patras. He said of Venna: It was very dirty. The mattresses, the blankets were dirty. The food was dirty. There were hairs in the food. They took a sack of my belongings when I arrived and never gave it back to me. Every three or four days they would take us outside for one hour. The telephones were only outside— two telephones for 30 to 40 people at a time. There was no other time we could use the phones.171 A 33-year-old man from Baghdad who spent three months in Venna from November 2007 until January 2008 told Human Rights Watch how the authorities prepare before the visit of a monitoring delegation: Some people from an organization came to visit Venna. Before they arrived, the authorities ordered us to clean the place. We had to paint the walls. We cleaned everything. We even painted the floor. They changed all the dirty mattresses and blankets. They gave us a bag of clean, second-hand clothes. Then they put us outside when the delegation came to visit. A man with a beard came and photographed us, but they were not allowed to talk with us. This happened after I was there for about one month.172 169 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, S-120), Venna, May 26, 2008. 170 The quoted testimonies are consistent with a group interview that Human Rights Watch conducted with a group of former detainees from Venna on May 24, 2008. Because the interview was with a group, it is not numbered. Another detailed, private interview about Venna was S-143. 171 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, B-13), Athens, May 26, 2008. 172 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, B-12), Athens, May 26, 2008. Stuck in a Revolving Door 72