»The truth may be bitter, but it must be told« was a huge muscular bloke – very strong, with rather long hair. He had the same uniform as the others, dark blue. There were four of them on the boat. They were armed. They removed the safety catches from their weapons and then they shot into the air. Then they pressed the hot barrel into our backs … it made a hissing sound, because our clothes were wet. In the harbour they took us one by one off the boat and put us into the coast guard’s building. The one who had hit me … even after a hundred years, I would still recognise him. Only two of us were so badly injured: me and the ��captain‹, they kicked him in the face with their boots, till he was no longer recognisable. On the second day I wanted to be taken to hospital for examination. And I said that I had been badly beaten. But the doctor in the camp didn’t let me. She said it wasn’t her decision. And then she just gave me some painkillers, for 10 days. But the whole time I was coughing blood. On the 11th day I had such a lot of pain that I went back to the doctor … She gave me some more painkillers. I wanted to go to hospital, I wanted to pay for it with my own money, but she would not let me. On the 25th day, Marianna was there (the lawyer, Marianna Tzeferakou) from Athens, they were able to get me into hospital. There I had x-rays, but they didn’t give me the pictures. I was coughing blood for 27 days, every morning. They kept me in hospital for a week, then I was sent back to the camp. I was locked up for 92 days – on Monday 6th August 2007, they let me out. I came here from Lebanon to save my life. Now I want to stay here and live in freedom – without disturbing anyone and without being disturbed by anyone. I am married – I left my wife and three children behind. I phone them every day. The situation at home is catastrophic. Our home is destroyed, so is my father’s house. It was blown up by the army with rockets. Before we were fine, we had a shop and we worked hard. Now I want to start again in Europe. I will work and then I’ll bring my family over, as they are in great danger. Conversation with an officer about the deployment of his patrol boat Question: What’s the command when a boat is sighted? Officer answering: »›Send it back!‹ If it’s near to the maritime boundary, then the boats are ordered to turn back. If necessary, we pull them over with a rope … At night it’s like this, if we find them close to our coast and they don’t slash their boat, sometimes we take them back. But sometimes they turn up in daylight. And if they don’t destroy their boat, that’s their mistake! Then we shove them back in their boat and take them back to the Turkish coast or put them on a Turkish island. Of course that’s not official, the Turks mustn’t find out. Either we tow them in their own boat, or we take the boat and the people on board. Then we sail into Turkish waters, put down the boat and stick the people in … « Question: What happens if there are dead or wounded? Officer answering: »Of course there are accidents. Mostly they’re caused by bad weather. If we’ve got a northeasterly then the sea over on the Turkish coast is quite calm, because you’ve got the mountains behind. Then the people set off, and suddenly the waves get really big. Many of these people can’t swim, you see. If they fall into the water they drown. Then it depends on the currents whether the bodies are washed up here. Sometimes fishing trawlers find skeletons or body parts in their nets.« Personal notes of Mr. Z. from Iran. His wife and 5-year-old daughter have been deported illegally from Greece to Turkey in March 2007. Being separated about 4 years from my family and spending nearly 3 years in Greece, and facing the wrong asylum system, and keeping refugee for long time process, eventually I decided to get my family here in Greece. But after the arrival of my family at the border Alexandroupoly at 10 o’clock in the night, in 18 March 2007, they were caught by the Greece guard at the border and had been treated badly. The Greek authorities kicked my kid down a hill. They had been searched for what they have along. Some precious books and other unique documents were taken by the guards. No food services during the custody. My wife constantly asked them (in broken English) and by interpreter to contact me from there. But she was not allowed. She told them all the time that her husband is officially registered in Greece (refugee) and that they are Kurds and need protection. During the time my lawyer (by Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims) and I, were sending fax and were calling non stop to the place they were in. Unfortunately, there was no response. On Monday 19 March 2007 (evening) the responsible person for refugees in the Ministry of Public Order answered Annex: Excerpts from interviews 35