III. Violence against Children by State Agents The previous chapter has described the near routine failure of the police to carry out rigorous age and vulnerability assessment—including identifying whether children are unaccompanied in the first place. Even worse, many of the unaccompanied children, in addition to numerous adults, interviewed by Human Rights Watch described violence and ill-treatment at the hands of police, port police, coastguards or border guards—the very officials with lead responsibility for their protection. This generally took place close to the moment of arrest. Children spoke about illtreatment taking place during interception at sea and during arrest or detention. Human Rights Watch documented allegations of beatings, slaps, kicks, and punches. Extraordinarily, one child reported being subjected to a mock execution. Several children interviewed said they suffered from health problems resulting from such acts. In 2007 the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) reported numerous allegations of illtreatment by persons, including migrants, in the custody of state agents and concluded that “persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement officials in Greece run a real risk of being ill-treated.”91 Ill-Treatment by Port Police Officers in Patras Some of the most dramatic testimony Human Rights Watch collected relates to the behavior of port police officers in the town of Patras, an important terminal for ferries leaving for Ancona, Bari and Venice and hence a jumping off point for travel to other parts of the EU. 91 The CPT explicitly stated that it would consider making a public statement should Greece fail to improve the situation in accordance with the Committee’s recommendations; European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), “Report to the Government of Greece on the visit to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 20 to 27 February 2007,” CPT/Inf (2008) 3, Strasbourg, February 8, 2008, http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/grc/2008-03-inf-eng.pdf (accessed September 1, 2008), p. 29. Left to Survive 32