22 july 2011 complaint of refugees in larnaca, cyprus
TRANSCRIPT
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8/6/2019 22 July 2011 Complaint of Refugees in Larnaca, Cyprus
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Complaint submitted on 22 July 2011 by Iranian and other detained refugees in Larnaca, Cyprus
detention center, regarding brutal Cypriot police attacks against detained refugees on 12 July 2011.
English translation follows. Letter provided by the Cyprus Refugee Rights Movement; translation to
English by Mission Free Iran.
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8/6/2019 22 July 2011 Complaint of Refugees in Larnaca, Cyprus
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8/6/2019 22 July 2011 Complaint of Refugees in Larnaca, Cyprus
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English translation of the complaint submitted on 22 July 2011 by Iranian and other detained refugees
in Larnaca, Cyprus detention center, regarding brutal Cypriot police attacks against detained refugees
on 12 July 2011.
Subject: To file a complaint against the Deputy of Famagusta Detention in Larnaca City of Cyprus
We kindly inform you that on 12th July 2011, the police visited the detention and forcibly and by
beatings removed one of the detainees who has been held for the past 12 months in relation to his visa
[with the intention of deporting him]. The other detainees protested against this act by the police
throughout the whole detention center. The reason [for the protest] was that the person was not
warned about the deportation, and his case was not attended to.
After the protest by the detainees, who shouted and banged on the doors and the windows against the
act of the police, the deputy of the detention center, accompanied by a large number of agents, all of
them from the police, came to the entrance, threatened the detainees with firearms, and ordered them
to stop the protest. Then, armed with batons and tasers and brass knuckles, the forcefully entered the
detention center and beat on all the detainees. They did not even show mercy to a 72-year-old man by
the name of Mr. B., who was a Baha'i and had complained to the European Court; he was also inside the
detention for visa-related reasons. While beating on him, they shouted, "Why have you complained
against the government of Cyprus!?"
While beating on the others, the police continuously accused the detainees - Iranians and Arabs - for
being involved in the explosion [editors note: this refers to the recent disastrous explosion of the
Islamic Republics munitions on Cyprus]. They said, "Iranians and Arabs are not going to be helped in
Cyprus. Either you leave our country or you will die in prison." As a result of the beatings by the police, a
number of asylum-seekers had injured hands and legs. They were not taken to hospital.
Later, the police collected all amenities, like food, sanitary items, and communications devices. The
deputy of the detention center threatened that if anyone were to complain to organizations about what
had happened, I, with the power invested in me, and the influence that I have in the government, will
make legal problems for that person. I will plant falsified documents in your files and cause problems for
you to get a visa - all of which is under my control."
Now, 10 days has passed that date, and Mr. B and his son and wife, who had spent 4 months in the
detention center waiting for their visa, were forcibly deported. None of the injured has been taken to
hospital. They have told us, "Nobody is going to be taken to hospital unless they are dying." And the
police have been ordered not to give anything in the way of amenities or communications devices to the
detainees. We have been threatened that if we protest, we will be removed to detention centers with
worse conditions. We have been threatened with having our files tampered with.
We, the signatories of this letter, complain against this inhuman behavior of the police to the
humanitarian organizations. We request that you provide oversight for our cases, and we inform you
about the risks of us being dispersed to different facilities. We ask your honorable organizations to
personally supervise our cases.
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Best regards,
Asylum-seekers in Famagusta Larnaca detention center, namely:
1. Mohammad Khosh Sorour
2. Mohsen Khosravan
3. Masoud Moghanizadeh Azari
4. Mostafa Hajilou
5. Mohammad Malek Madar
6. Zakariah Ebrahim Moj
7. Abdo Rasho
8. Loghman Hanan Ajijo
9. Shahed from Bangladesh
10. Ahmad Hosseini
Translation by Ahmad Fatemi and Maria Rohaly, Mission Free Iran