'A real person would not stay there.'

The respondent is from Afghanistan. He was with three other men near a town called Horgoš when they were apprehended and beaten by fifteen men, around the 4th of April 2025. The respondent recognized the fifteen men as police officers, who spoke in English. The respondent believed they had seen them on a camera first, since he said they had been watched from what he described as a ‘tower’, where the cameras would have been very visible. The officers beat them as soon as they found them in the forest using batons all over their bodies, including their faces. 

 After the apprehension, the four men were driven for approximately 30 minutes in a big van to what the respondent described as a ‘prison’.

The respondent spent eight days at the facility. On arrival, he had his fingerprints and his photograph taken. According to him, everyone in the group had to pass through the same identification process. None of the respondents’ belongings were taken. 

He was spoken to in a language which he did not understand, and was not given access to a translator. However, he was made to sign papers that he did not understand. He said that none could speak Persian, and he commented that he felt unable to communicate his situation without a formal translator. The respondent explained that during his time at the facility, he was not allowed outside. Reportedly, any detainees who opposed this rule would be beaten. The respondent said that he had access to food and a toilet in the cell. He recounted that the cell was a small room and very dirty. He commented:  

‘A real person would not stay there.’ 

During the detention, he was taken to the only doctor in the facility. According to the respondent, the doctor asked if he had been beaten. Apparently, the respondent would have replied that the officers beat him during the apprehension, as he said: 

‘They beat me and broke my wrist.’ 

The respondent asked for medicine from the doctor, as he felt his wrist hurting. The respondent explained that the doctor did not give the respondent any treatment and told him to go. He described his whole body, including his face, as being ‘black’, probably referring to the bruises resulting from the apprehension. The doctor took photos but did not do anything. 

In summary, the respondent defined the treatment in the facility as ‘a problem’.

After leaving the facility in Serbia, the respondent left the country and arrived at Blažuj camp in Sarajevo, where he tried to access a doctor as he still felt pain in his wrist. The doctors in Blažuj told him they cannot do anything for his wrist, but can give him painkillers. The respondent declined the painkillers from the medical staff. The whole situation was described as exhausting by the respondent, who commented:

‘I am really tired, I mean really tired of life.’