Detention Camp of Kokkinotrimithia

The Detention Camp of Kokkinotrimithia is located about 2 kilometers east of the homonymous village of Nicosia in Cyprus.

They were built during the EOKA liberation struggle, from 1955 to 1959, by the English in order to imprison political prisoners. The Kokkinotrimithia detention camp was the largest concentration camp in Cyprus (built after the Nicosian Central Prison and the castle of Kyrineia, a place of martyrdom) and operated from the end of 1955 until the beginning of 1959. They consisted of a series of parapets, were covered with high rows of wire mesh, as well as the wooden observatory towers for the guards.

The detention camp inmates were divided into two categories, those convicted and those who were imprisoned for an indefinite period, awaiting trial. The torture of the English in Cyprus (penalty of whipping and others) did not differ much from the torturing they did to prisoners of the Kokkinotrimithia detention camp. However, each prisoner had the right to receive a visit from his relatives, usually every Sunday, while throughout the week they were engaged in the construction of small items, as well as in carpentry.

In the Detention Camp of Kokkinotrimithia were sentenced 39 fighters, and thousands of ordinary citizens were imprisoned. Other sites that functioned as concentration camps are located in the villages of Pyla and Mammari, while the police stations of Paphos and Platres were also used as temporary detention facilities.