assistance to applicants who have special reception needs.”208 Article 47209 and 48 IPA largely transpose Article 10, 11 and 19 RCD into national law. Regarding rejected asylum-seekers, detention conditions are outlined in the RD and Law 3907/2011. The RD does not provide detailed preconditions for detention conditions.210 Article 16 RD, read together with Recital 17 of the RD, imposes on Member States the following minimum standards: • Rejected asylum seekers should be detained, as a rule, in specialised detention facilities as opposed to prisons.211 • Particular attention shall be paid to vulnerable persons.212 • Emergency health care and essential treatment of illness shall be provided.213 Article 31 Law 3907/2011 transposes Article 16 RD.214 2. European Human Rights Law The ECtHR addresses detention conditions under different articles. Unlawful detention conditions mainly concern Article 2 (positive obligation to protect the right to life), Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment), Article 5 (detention of third-country nationals), Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience, and religion) ECHR.215 Article 3 ECHR prohibits, in absolute terms, torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, irrespective of the circumstances and the victim’s behaviour.216 To fall within the scope of this Article, illtreatment must attain a minimum level of severity. The assessment of this minimum is relative and depends on all circumstances of the case. Circumstances which have been considered relevant by the ECtHR for an Article 3 analysis include: the duration of the treatment, its physical and mental effects and, in some cases, the sex, age and state of health of the victim. 208 Art. 19 Directive 2013/33/EU. The wording of the provision is relatively vague and the application in the different EU MS varies considerably, Peek/Tsourdis in Hailbronner/Thym EU Immigration and Asylum Law, Part D.V., para 302, p. 1481. 209 Art. 55 L. 4636/2019 officially transposes Art.19 RCD, but the transposition of health care for asylum-seekers is reflected in Art.47 L. 4636/2019. 210 Art. 16 RD does not regulate other detention conditions, such as access to sanitary facilities, access to open air spaces and recreation areas, nutrition, etc. However, in accordance with Art. 3 ECHR and Art. 4 of the EU Charter read in conjunction with Recital 17 RD, Member States are obliged to observe not only the relevant Strasbourg case-law, but also the basic requirements reflected in the Council of Europe (CoE) Guideline on forced return No. 10 (‘conditions of detention pending removal’); standards on immigration detention established by the CoE Committee on the Prevention of Torture (‘CPT standards’), and the 2006 European Prison Rules as basic minimum standards. See also Manashvili in Hailbronner/Thym EU Immigration and Asylum Law, Part C.VII. para 342 et. seq., p.775. 211 Art. 16 (1) Directive 2008/115/EC. 212 Art. 16 (3) Directive 2008/115/EC. 213 Ibid. 214 Art. 31 L. 3907/2011 mostly transposes Art. 16 RD literally. The only specifications concern Art. 31 (1) L. 3907/2011 (detention should not only as a rule but always take place in specialised facilities) and Art. 31 (4). 3907/2011 establishing that visits by national, international, and non-governmental organizations and institutions are subject to authorization, a possibility that is foreseen by Art. 16 (4) RD. 215 See for an overview of the ECtHR case law on prisoners’ rights: CoE, ECtHR Guide on the case-law of the European Convention on Human Rights, prisoners’ rights, last updated April 2021, available at https://bit.ly/3kLXA7I. 216 ECtHR, Judgement of 10/12/2020, No. 42732/12, Ananyev and Others v. Russia, para 139, with further references. 36 DETENTION OF MIGRANTS ON THE ISLAND OF KOS