42 THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN given to the staff. The main objective of these interventions is to identify more general systemic problems, which are obviously highlighted by the frequency and the common characteristics of these incidents. During 2018, this initiative was launched in four cases. »» suicide of a pre-trial detainee at the Police Department of Trikala (11 February), »» Suicide of an administrative prisoner at Kissamos Police Station in Chania (15 February), »» Suicide at the Penteli Police Station (3 September), »» death, due to pathological causes, of an administrative detainee at the Omonoia Police Station (5 September). Conclusions so far cannot be considered complete or satisfactory, as in most cases the Administration invokes criminal or administrative inquiries and reserves the right to communicate the relevant findings after they have been completed. Therefore, the same comments apply as in the case of the detention facilities mentioned above (under 2.b.3) for the corresponding initiatives of the NPM concerning the investigation of deaths and incidents of violence in detention facilities. 3.c. Special issues that emerged in 2018 i. Lack of outside spaces and inappropriateness for long-term detention The Ombudsman, both as an NPM and as part of its general responsibility, has repeatedly pointed out and documented18 the abuse of police detention facilities for purposes unrelated to their original purposes and unrelated to their design. This problem also emerged in 2018, as joint detention facilities, particularly in Athens and Thessaloniki, are now mainly used for administrative detention and secondarily for detention of people arrested in criminal proceedings, resulting in overcrowding, which ultimately worsens detention conditions. The inadequacy of detention facilities for an administrative detention of several days or even several months is particularly striking with regard to the issue of lack of open-air spaces. In most cases, a courtyard is either un18 The Greek Ombudsman, Special Report “Migration flows and refugee protection – administrative challenges and human rights”, pp. 55-59, 75-76 https://www.synigoros.gr/resources/docs/greek_ombudsman_migrants_refugees_2017-el.pdf