npm annual report 2016 / observations and recommendations 3.2 Defence forces detention facilities In 2016, the NPM conducted two visits to the detention facilities of the Finnish Defence Forces. They were carried out unannounced in connection with the Ombudsman’s regular visits to garrisons. The visits were targeted at the Kainuu Brigade and the Satakunta Air Command. The treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the detention facilities of the Defence Forces is subject to the provisions of the act on the treatment of persons in police custody (841/2006). During the visits, attention was paid to the structural elements of detention facilities in order to improve the safety of persons deprived of their liberty and to reduce the risk of self-harm. • At the Kainuu Brigade, the closed space used for the detention of persons deprived of their liberty did not have a call button, an alarm device referred to in the act on the treatment of persons in police custody. The Deputy-Ombudsman noted that a communication method in which a person deprived of their liberty has to waive at a camera or knock on the door cannot be considered sufficient to ensure safety during detention. Such means do not always guarantee the attention of supervisory staff unlike a call button, which requires the control room staff to separately confirm receiving the alarm. • At the Satakunta Air Command, the detention facility had a “curtain” that was made of a plastic bag or similar material and taped to the wall. The Deputy-Ombudsman considered it possible that self-destructive persons deprived of their liberty could use it to suffocate themselves. The Deputy-Ombudsman recommended the immediate removal of the curtain. If the detention room cannot otherwise be darkened when a person deprived of their liberty so wishes, it should be considered whether the window could be covered in a similar manner from the outside. 23