ANNUAL SPECIAL REPORT 2018 11 At an organisational level – and in view of the lack of guaranteed financial resources, which are reviewed annually, and adequate, dedicated and specialist staff – the emphasis was placed on training courses on research methods and techniques and on the international presence and networking of the Mechanism. The specific actions developed at the organisational and operational levels, as well as the findings of the individual inspections carried out by the members of the Mechanism, are presented below and are supplemented by institutional interventions of the Ombudsman on matters of protection of the rights of detainees, while the relevant legislative and case-law developments, wherever applicable, are also presented. In particular, in conjunction with the enrichment of the NPM's inspection methodology, it is worth mentioning, in the course of 2018, the establishment of new tools and practices, such as extending the visit time to two days, the preparation and distribution of anonymous questionnaires to prisoners with targeted questions, with the aim of expanding the NPM's sources of information on detention conditions. Moreover, in addition to regular visits and the extraction of material from detainees' questionnaires, the NPM initiated a series of regular and informative contacts with the relevant ministries, detention facilities and civil society bodies, in order to identify cases – in particular deaths or injuries of detainees – which show operational dysfunctions in general and to further identify some systemic problems, which are obviously highlighted by the frequency and the common characteristics that these incidents tend to have. On assessing the results and experiences so far since the ratification of the OPCAT and the setting up of the Greek NPM, we look forward to enhancing and intensifying our supervision of the administration and to establishing a more constructive dialogue with it concerning the implementation of the NPM’s recommendations, in the interest of the rights of the detainees. ● —George P. Nikolopoulos Deputy Ombudsman for Human Rights