32 defence forces 3.2 Defence Forces detention facilities In 2017, the NPM conducted four visits to the detention facilities of the Finnish Defence Forces. All of the visits were made unannounced. The visits were made to the facilities of the Armoured Brigade in Hämeenlinna and Riihimäki, the Kainuu Brigade and the Sodankylä facility of the Jaeger Brigade. At the time of the visits, no persons deprived of their liberty were being held in the detention facilities. In general, the detention facilities are rarely used: in the last six months, only one person had been detained in the Riihimäki facility; the highest number of detainees was in the Kainuu Brigade, where 13 persons had been detained in the previous 10 months. The most common grounds for detention were intoxication and desertion. The treatment of person deprived of their liberty in Defence Forces facilities is governed by the Act on the Treatment of Persons in Police Custody. During these visits, attention was paid to the conditions and treatment of those deprived of their liberty, their access to information, and their security. Each detained person undergoes an inspection on arrival, which includes taking notes on any illnesses and injuries. The withheld personal effects and the medicines of detained persons were kept in a separate box or a locked cabinet at all sites visited. All visited sites had a policy of ensuring that the persons deprived of their liberty were provided with a compilation of relevant rules and regulations. The persons deprived of their liberty were allowed to take a copy of this information into their cells. All detention facilities operated camera surveillance, in addition to which the status of the detained person was regularly checked in person by a member of staff. The interval between checks depended on the individual, ranging from every 10 minutes to every 30 minutes. All detention rooms had alarm devices, which were tested during some of the visits. Notes on the monitoring or measures taken during detention were entered into a guard report or similar log. Some detention rooms have no windows and the level of their furnishing in general could vary, depending on whether the room was intended to be occupied by someone detained on the grounds of intoxication or criminal offence. The detention rooms included either a toilet or the person deprived of their liberty had access to one by pushing a call button. Follow-up: Following the Ombudsman’s most recent visit, the Kainuu Brigade has addressed the issue of privacy when using the toilet. None of the sites visited had separate outdoor areas for persons deprived of their liberty, and outdoor time was spent within the closed garrison compound. Access to the outdoors was typically arranged on request but, as a rule, all detained persons had the opportunity to spend one hour outdoors. In 2017, no specific recommendations were issued regarding detention facilities. During the previous year’s visit to the Karelian Brigade, however, it was noted that the facilities lacked the alarm device required by law that would enable a person deprived of their liberty to contact staff if necessary. Follow-up: According to the response of Defence Command Finland, the detention facilities at the Karelian Brigade have since been fitted with an alarm system.