50 annual report 2010 No doctors were present, but around 6 p.m. – 2½ hours after the first detentions – the police called a doctor and ambulance for a person who had cramps. The person was released after treatment. The doctor pointed out to the police that it was too cold to sit on the ground and asked for the detainees to be removed from the ground. The police then took some of them for a walk. The detainees could not contact relatives or a lawyer until they reached the climate cages at Retortvej. During the 4½ hours at Amagerbrogade, the police did not undertake registrations or interrogations. However, after a short while, the police released 200300 persons who clearly did not belong to the group they wished to detain. The police action was extensively covered by the media – also internationally. In the subsequent days, the Parliamentary Ombudsman received a number of complaints from citizens dissatisfied with the police approach. The Ombudsman’s new OPCAT Unit therefore decided to investigate the general treatment of the detainees by the police. OPCAT – THE NEW INSPECTION UNIT As a new responsibility, the Ombudsman now undertakes so-called OPCAT inspections and investigations based purely on human rights considerations. Unlike the Ombudsman’s ordinary inspections, the OPCAT Unit draws on medical expertise from the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims and obtains expert knowledge about human rights from the Institute for Human Rights. Unlike the ordinary inspections, the OPCAT inspections may also be carried out in private places where people may be confined, such as social homes. The inspections and investigations must be future-oriented and result in recommendations for improvements to the authorities. In summer 2009, the Ombudsman Act was amended, partly with a view to giving the Ombudsman the necessary competences as an OPCAT authority. OPCAT inspections are carried out by a special Ombudsman unit comprising three lawyers and a member of office staff, equalling a total of 2½ fulltime jobs. The unit was established in 2008 to ensure that Denmark complies with UN’s so-called ‘OPCAT protocol’ (Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture), which was ratified by Parliament in 2004. The OPCAT pro­ tocol requires participating states to establish a system of regular visits by independent bodies to places where people are or may be confined. The purpose is to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punish­