ANNUAL SPECIAL REPORT 2018 25 »» At the Nafplio Detention Centre, the guard station in the room for open visits is situated so close to the persons involved in the visit that lawyer-client confidentiality is violated. »» In the Corinth Detention Facility (juveniles), in the absence of a special room, open visits are held in a place near the reception booth, which may be inspected by a guard and the receptionist, without obstructing visual contact at all, and after visits, in order to prevent contraband from being brought into the prison, prisoners undergo a strip search, which is not carried out on the basis of indications or information in a given case, but in all cases and after all open visits (relatives, advocates). These searches are carried out in a specially designed room with a medical examination bed, and involve the removal of clothing and undergarments, especially after the end of visits and upon the return of minors from excursions. In 2018 the Ombudsman received and investigated a report of strip searches of detainees after visits from relatives and is awaiting a response from the competent Ministry in order to determine whether there is a need for such searches – in order to avoid forms of searches that may compromise the dignity of prisoners and visitors – and to amend the current legislation on body searches in the direction of recording and proving, using nationally practised instruments, the specific reasons why such searches are carried out by staff. v. Insufficient grounds for refusal of temporary release In the context of the continuing interest of the Ombudsman7 in the protection of the right of prisoners to a reasoned examination by the prison council of applications for temporary release, as required by the Penitentiary Code (L. 2776/1999, article 54), the NPM, in its inspections, studied a sample of the relevant decisions. Regrettably, the incomplete, vague, routine and non-personalised rejection decisions still remain a common practice, making a stereotypical reference to the legislative framework without informing the prisoners of their right to appeal the decision. In particular, such practices are observed especially in large prisons such as Patra and Grevena detention facilities, but sometimes in smaller ones as well, such as the Special Rural Juvenile Detention Facilities of Kassaveteia. A particularly extreme example of the denial of temporary release occurred in the Tripolis Detention Facility, where there appears to be a bias against the prisoners convicted of sexual offences, mainly in connection with their predisposition to commit new crimes, without, however, individualising each 7 The Greek Ombudsman, Special Report “Prison Leaves” https://www.synigoros.gr/?i=human-rights.el.fulakes.28882