6. Detention and detention centres 1. Who have applied for family reunification; 2. Who are pending transfer to another EU-country or 3. When there is a pending procedure for determining the responsible state for the examination of the asylum application. For detainees whose deportation is considered »not feasible«, such as Afghans and Somalis, if they apply for asylum while in detention, they will stay for the maximum period of time. Had they not done so, they would normally be released within some days. This practice of detention affects many asylum seekers in a negative way; that is, they tend to withdraw their applications.81 Upon his arrival, T.U.82 had requested asylum with the support of a private lawyer. On February 9, 2011, the police issued a three months detention decision on the ground of the effectiveness and the speediness of his application. On April 15, he had his asylum interview before the police. Thereafter he continued to stay in detention until May 8, 2011, in appalling conditions in the borderguard station of Soufli, until the completion of the three months period prescribed by law. Upon his release, there was still no decision issued by the authorities, which would have justified the provision of »speediness and effectiveness of the procedure«. H.H.83 from Iran was arrested in Soufli on October 17, 2010. On October 19, 2010, the public prosecutor ordered his refoulement. On October 22, 2010, the police ordered his deportation. His asylum application was registered after the intervention of GCR on January 13, 2011. The police continued to detain him without taking into account his asylum application. On February 22, 2001, his asylum application was rejected and he appealed before the authorities in charge. He was released on April 18, 2011, after six months in detention and, in any case, more than three months after the registration of his asylum claim. 29 application was registered. The police informed us that he had withdrawn from his asylum claim on January 8, 2011. He was not aware of the content of the papers he was given to sign. On February 14, 2011, after interventions of a GCR-lawyer, the police registered his asylum application for a second time. The police continued to keep him in detention without taking into account his asylum application and without issuing a new decision. On April 11, he had his first asylum interview. On June 1, his asylum claim was rejected whereupon he filed an appeal. On June 17, passing six months in detention, he was released. In any case, he stayed in detention more than the legally prescribed threemonths period from the date of his asylum registration. H.W.85 from Iraq was arrested on June 16 and detained in Soufli. From the very beginning of his detention, he was asking to be re-united with his family. His wife and his children live in Germany. Yet he could only apply for family reunification upon registration of his asylum claim on September 22. H.W. suffers from a herniated disc. During detention he was transferred to a health centre twice, and once to the hospital of Alexandroupolis. During our visit to Soufli he had already been four months in detention. His wife had already sent all her documents to the Police Directorate of Alexandroupolis. 6.3 Detention conditions Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 3 of the ECHR prohibit torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Article 10(1) of the ICCPR stipulates, that: »All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person«. Detention under inhuman and degrading conditions is a form of ill-treatment and violates the European Convention for Human Rights (ECHR). Even though the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly condemned Greece for humiliating detention conditions86, until today there have been no improvements. F.H.84 from Iran was arrested in December 2010. Upon arrest he applied for asylum. On December 24, the police ordered his deportation. On December 20, his asylum 81 82 83 84 Article 14, Presidential Decree 114/2010 T.U. from Turkey; April 14, 2011 – Soufli H.H. from Iran; June 26, 2011 – Athens F.H. from Iran; February 28, 2011 – Soufli (detained also in Fylakio later); October 29, 2011 – Athens 85 H.W. from Iraq; October 11, 2011 – Soufli 86 Recent cases of ECHR: SD v. Greece (53541/2007, 11.6.2009), Tabesh v. Greece ( 8256/2007, 26.11.2009), AA v. Greece (12186/2008, 22.7.2010), RU v. Greece (2237/2008, 7.6.2011), Rahimi v. Greece (8687/2008, 4.7.2011), Grand Chamber MSS v. Belgium and Greece (30696/2009, 21.1.2011)