12. Hunger strikes the hunger strike lasted for 15 days. »We started the hunger strike all together in the big cell in Soufli. Although we had informed the officers and the director about our protest, they were bringing food to our cell every day – not only for the other detainees but also for us. We told them that we didn’t want them to bring us food since we were on hunger strike. They answered that they will bring the food and they don’t care if we eat or not. Every day we were putting our meals into cardboard boxes next to us. For at least ten days they ■ Immigrants are living under inhumane conditions in Greece. I have witnessed with my own eyes this inhumane treatment during my stay in police stations for three months as a detainee, and during my short stay in Athens, and I, as well as other immigrants, have also received my share of this inhumane treatment. Every day the fugitive immigrants are being collected by the Greek police from the banks of the Maritsa River and the Greek villages near the Turkish border, and piled up in police stations. Immigrants are being transported to stations by white coloured minibuses that have no windshields and ventilation. They are being loaded into these dark and airless vehicles on top of each other with no consideration given to whether they are old or young; male or female. While getting in or out of the minibuses, and during body searches, the Greek Police insult and curse at the immigrants. Some policemen even physically punch them. In several cases I have seen immigrants with bleeding noses as a result of blows they received from some policemen. I have stayed at two borderguard stations – Soufli and Feres. I have witnessed inhumane conditions in these stations. I learned about the conditions in other stations from statements of detainees who were transferred from those stations to ours. Soufli had two compartments. There were three concrete beds in the smaller compartment. In other words, it had a capacity for three, but from time to time the number of persons staying in this compartment went up to 15. In this situation people had to lie on top of each other. Everybody, regardless of whether they were male or female, was stuffed into the same place. People faced serious breathing problem was in this completely closed space. Belongings such as nail scissors and mobile telephones were not permitted. People who had to live in a 249 F.H. from Iran; October 29, 2011 – Athens 85 would not come to take them away. They became moldy and smelly. It was very disturbing for us. […] Every morning the police director was coming to the cell and insulting us with all the bad words that the Greek language has to offer.«249 T.U., asylum seeker from Turkey, was among the hunger strikers. In a recent letter of October 2011 he describes in detail the detention conditions and the reasons for the hunger strike: completely sealed and small place were depressed and under stress. I saw many individuals who cut themselves with razor blades. One Georgian and one Iranian detainee cut themselves. The police was reluctant to take these people to hospital, though they were at risk of excessive bleeding. We managed to get their attention and force them to react by hammering on the doors. But this time we were insulted and cursed at by the police because we had made such noise. The situation was far worse in the larger compartment of Soufli where I was transferred to after banging on the doors because I wanted the bleeding men to be treated. There was a very disturbing smell in the compartment. Waste water (sewer water) was flowing on the floor. There were no flushes in the toilets. I never saw hot water flowing from the faucets during my stay in there. People were continuously coughing and ejecting sputum. The place, which resembled a horse stable, was always humid and no sunlight could get in there. Rainwater was dripping in when it rained. People were unable to clean themselves because of the lack of hot water. There was no appliance to wash clothes. Everybody was itching constantly because all of us had lice. We observed lice with our own eyes and showed them to the authorities. The place was convenient for the spread of any contagious disease. There were garbage heaps here and there. Sometimes it became very difficult even to remain standing because of the increased number of persons in the compartment. In the asylum booklets that were distributed to us, it was stated that a person can be kept in such stations for a maximum of 3 months. But people were kept for 6 months under those conditions. We faced suppression and insults when we started to protest against this situation and other inhumane treatment. Suppression and insults continued during our hunger strike with which we