5 that 2017 will signal a new springboard for the Mechanism; reinforced by the specific experience of previous years, the fruitful and intense exchange of best practices in bilateral, multilateral and international partnerships and the substantial financial support that has been achieved for the first time and which I expect to be steady and regular, the Authority will place its stamp, as the national human rights watchdog, in the particularly sensitive area of​​ treatment in conditions of deprivation of liberty. The present report is the third annual survey of the situation in our country. The material contained herein reflects the main findings of the work of a special group of investigators of the Ombudsman, under the guidance of the former Deputy Ombudsman, responsible for the coordination of the National Preventive Mechanism, Prof. Vassilis Karydis. The editing supervision of this issue fell to the Deputy Ombudsman who assumed these responsibilities at the end of 2016, Prof. George Nikolopoulos. ● —Andreas I. Pottakis The Greek Ombudsman