border buard and customs 3.3 Border Guard and Customs detention facilities The Finnish Border Guard currently uses 15 closed spaces for the detention of persons deprived of their liberty. The facilities are typically shared by the Border Guard and Customs. Customs also has facilities for its exclusive use in three locations. These detention facilities are used for short-term detention before transferring detainees to a police prison, detention unit, or reception centre. The treatment of persons deprived of their liberty at Customs or Border Guard facilities is governed by the Act on the Treatment of Persons in Police Custody. The duration of detention in these facilities varies from one to several hours. The maximum detention time is 12 hours in all cases. The locations, standard and furnishing of the facilities vary. The Border Guard Headquarters have approved the rules for Border Guard’s detention facilities and issued regulations for detention facilities. Similarly, Customs has approved of the detention facilities used by it and issued its own rules for its detention facilities. The scope of the Customs rules for detention facilities has been under an own-initiative investigation by the Ombudsman. The NPM made a pre-announced visit to the detention facilities at the Niirala bordercrossing point run by the North Karelia Border Guard District. The facilities are shared with Customs, in such a manner that one of the detention rooms is primarily reserved for persons detained by Customs. The Customs detention facilities did not, however, fulfil the regulations at the time of the visit, and all persons detained by Customs were taken to the detention facilities of the police. The plan was to renovate the facilities to meet the regulations and serve Customs by December 2017, when the rules for the detention facility and material for persons in custody were scheduled for publication. The idea is that, from that point onwards, Customs will be responsible for the supervision of detained persons deprived of their liberty in matters falling under the jurisdiction of Customs. At the time of the visits, no persons deprived of their liberty were being held in the detention facilities. The detention room has rarely been used. In 2016, only one person, and in early 2017 one other person, had been detained by the Border Guard. The rules of the detention facility are available in Swedish, English, Russian, and Arabic. The rules include separate sections on those detained on the grounds of the Aliens Act and their rights. The persons deprived of their liberty are informed about their rights and obligations on arrival, and they are provided with a copy of the detention facility rules, listing the key legal provisions applicable. As part of the security and arrival check, notes are also made of the person’s possible illnesses and injuries. The withheld personal effects are placed in a locked cabinet. The persons deprived of their liberty are monitored in the detention rooms with a recording security camera. The detained persons are also monitored in person in the detention room and through the hatch on the detention room door. The detention rooms are equipped with an alarm button that the persons deprived of their liberty can use to alert staff. The detention rooms have no windows and they are furnished with a bed. The rooms are fitted with fire alarms. There are toilets near the detention rooms that the persons deprived of their liberty may use. However, the facility has no shower facilities and the detained persons may use the showers in the staff facilities instead. The outdoor area is at the front of the administrative building, and it is not protected or fenced off against outsiders. The persons deprived of their liberty have access to outdoors on request. The NPM was informed that, as a rule, everyone detained at the facility has the opportunity to spend time outdoors under supervision, but owing to the short duration of the detention, this possibility has not been used. 33