Cursory age assessments may lead to children being mistakenly identified as adults and, as a consequence, detained alongside adults in situations that put them at risk. At Amygdaleza, 21 out of the 294 detainees in the adult section had birthdates that would have made them under the age of 18, according to the registry provided to Human Rights Watch by the police. Human Rights Watch interviewed eight of these individuals, who each said they had previously been held in the children’s section, but were transferred to the adult section after undergoing an x-ray wrist examination. All individuals said the purpose of the procedure was not explained, that they were asked no questions, and that they had not been given an opportunity to speak with an interpreter or provide any information that could help substantiate their age. Shapoor B. said he was a 15-year-old Afghan boy and that he lost his passport and identification card, which he had kept in a plastic bag in his pocket, during his journey from Turkey to Greece on a crowded rubber boat.45 Shapoor said that when he was taken to the hospital, he was not informed about the purpose of the visit, did not know if it was an age assessment, and had not been asked any questions. He said that if he had been allowed to access a computer, he could have asked relatives in Afghanistan to send documents proving his age. Ali B., a 17-year-old from Algeria, said: The minors’ section was much better. Here, I am scared because the adults fight among each other. There, we were just minors. On the first day I arrived here there was a fight. They fight, they hit each other with several objects, with iron sticks and I am scared I might get hurt too. In the nine days I have been here, I’ve seen four big fights.46 The detention of children in overcrowded, unsanitary facilities amounts to detention in inhuman and degrading conditions, in violation of international standards.47 Detention of 45 Human Rights Watch interview with Shapoor B., Amygdaleza pre-removal detention center, Athens, July 3, 2016. 46 Human Rights Watch interview with Ali B., Amygdaleza pre-removal detention center, Athens, July 3, 2016. 47 ICCPR, art. 7; ECHR, art. 3. The European Court of Human Rights has found that overcrowding of prison cells and detention facilities, lack of lighting and ventilation, unsatisfactory conditions of hygiene and sanitation, and lack of mattresses and beds taken together with the duration of detention, amount to degrading treatment. See European Court of Human Rights, Varga and others v. Hungary, application nos. 14097/12, 45135/12, 73712/12, 34001/13, 44055/13, and 64586/13, Judgment 21 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2016