7. Health 44 7.5 Inadequate response to health emergencies Since there is no medical staff working night shifts or on weekends, and in general access to the doctors is not guaranteed, the guards are more often than not left alone to respond to health emergencies. They may though arbitrarily decide to contact the doctors in each case. It is in their hands, who gets care and who doesn’t or who should be transferred to hospital or not. Detainees transferred to hospital are required to be escorted by the police. This cannot always be granted, especially during night shifts, when there less officers are on duty. In such cases, transfer can be postponed to the next day. However, in some cases, even with suicide attempts, if it does not appear be an emergency that cannot be ignored, the person is not necessarily referred to primary care or psychiatric clinic. »One of the detainees fainted. We called for help. The police shouted: ›It is fake. He is just fine. We didn’t invite you to come to Greece anyway!‹«142 Out of despair, detainees resort to radical measures in order to be heard and to re- »In Iran I burned myself. Look, I still have the marks.« B.M. (18), from Iran145 ■ B.M. was detained in Fylakio detention centre together with his elder brother B.M., who toldus the following: »We came to Greece with our sister and her family. They were released. We hired a private lawyer, who charged us 6,000 Euros. It’s been three months since then, but we are still here. My younger brother is diagnosed with a chronic mental disease and had been under treatment in a psychiatric ward for two years. After his release he always stayed at home. He would stay in the yard, play with his dogs. Once or twice a week, we would go for a stroll. He once tried to set himself on fire. He still has the marks on his chest. The younger brother shows us the burns and the scars and said: »In Iran I burned myself. Look, I still have the marks.« 142 F.H. from Iran; February 28, 2011 – Soufli 143 B.M. from Iran; December 19, 2010 – Soufli ceive treatment: »We had been on hunger strike for nine days without being examined by a doctor. We requested many times to see a doctor. When my friend became really sick, we decided to drink Betadine to force them to take us to the hospital. We were transferred to Alexandroupolis hospital. The doctor gave me a prescription with a whole list of medication I had to take, but back in detention, I only received once a single tablet. When we returned from the hospital, one of the guards told us: ›Now stay here and die!‹ Then for one week they didn’t allow us to make any phone calls.«143 »Maybe somebody can survive three months in here, but nobody can survive six months. This is for sure,« A.H. says.144 »One day, I tried to commit suicide. I don’t remember what happened then. You know, there are sad things in my life and I was in detention for a long period without knowing what will happen to me. The others told me that I had been unconscious and that they were shouting for a doctor. It took a long time until the police took me to the hospital. My friends thought I had died. I woke up in hospital. I didn’t know where I was. I saw a doctor and the police. When I was alone with the police, they were threatening to tell the doctor I was fine. I was afraid, so I followed their order. The doctor released me without any examination. I was brought back to prison. When we arrived there, the police beat me. I think they were angry.« His brother continued: »He’s been under medication for many years now. He sleepwalks. When in crisis, he engages in self-harm. In order to keep him calm, other Iranians and Iraqis in the cell sleep next to him, so that none else disturbs him. Once the Police took him out to get some fresh air, but they pushed him. He lost control, beat himself and banged his head against the wall. They brought him into the examination room and gave him an injection to calm him down. He stayed in bed for four days.« The two brothers were arrested in December 2010 and were only released on April 30, 2011, when a doctor issued an attestation of serious mental disorder. The authorities wanted to release B.M. (the younger one) alone, although he was incapable to take care of himself. Only after the intervention of a GCR-lawyer did the authorities release him together with his brother. Still, even then his mental problem was only registered after his brother insisted to see the doctor because he had tried to commit suicide. 144 A.H. from Iraq; December 21, 2010 – Tychero 145 B.M. from Iran; April 15, 2011 – Fylakio