several hundred persons in various prisons and police establishments in the Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir areas. This visit was also an opportunity to raise once again with the relevant authorities certain issues related to the situation of Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners held at Imralı F-type High-Security Prison. 10. The purpose of the visit to Ukraine in December was two-fold: a) to examine the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons detained by law enforcement agencies and b) to review the treatment of prisoners in two correctional colonies in the Kharkiv area, namely Colonies Nos. 25 and 100, where the CPT had received a significant number of allegations of severe physical ill-treatment and/or torture by prison officers during previous visits. In the context of its visits to penitentiary establishments, the delegation also examined the conditions of detention of remand prisoners (in SIZOs) and the situation of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment (at Colony No. 100 and Kharkiv SIZO). 11. Finally, for the fourth time, the CPT monitored a removal operation by air. In the context of an ad hoc visit to Spain in February, the delegation examined the treatment of foreign nationals during a return flight to Bogota (Colombia) and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic); a flight co-ordinated and co-financed by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex). In addition to Spain (the organising member state), Germany took part in the return operation. High-level talks with national authorities 12. It is standard practice for CPT visiting delegations to hold talks with the national authorities, at both the outset and the end of the visit. The end-of-visit talks usually involve the participation of Ministers and are the occasion for the delegation to present its preliminary observations. The CPT has also continued to seek to intensify its ongoing dialogue with certain states by means of high-level talks outside the framework of a given visit. 13. On 13 June, representatives of the CPT held consultations in Helsinki (Finland) with the national authorities. The main objective of the talks was to discuss the implementation of the CPT’s long-standing recommendations aiming at stopping the practice of holding remand prisoners in police establishments (“police prisons”), and equipping all prison cells with toilets. The talks were also an opportunity to learn about other developments since the CPT’s last visit to Finland (2014), including the recent transfer of the responsibility for the prison health-care service from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The talks were open, detailed and constructive, and all participants expressed the wish to reinforce co-operation on matters falling within the CPT’s mandate. 14. The President of the CPT held talks with Koen Geens, Minister of Justice of Belgium, in Brussels on 21 June. The main objective of the talks was to discuss the implementation of recommendations made by the Committee with a view to introducing a guaranteed minimum service in prisons during strikes and other industrial action by prison staff. These talks formed part of a dialogue which had been ongoing on this issue between the CPT and the Belgian authorities for more than ten years. Activities during the period 1 January to 31 December 2016 ► Page 9