NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2019 56 The National Police Immigration Service (NPIS) established a family unit at Haraldvangen in Hurdal municipality in December 2017. According to NPIS, the family unit has a civilian feel and the staff do not wear uniforms. It is a closed detention centre, meaning that windows and doors are locked. Even so, the detainees are free to move around inside the building. The development since 2015 suggests that the situation for children detained on immigration control grounds has improved somewhat, in that children are ensured an environment better suited to their vulnerability. This development shows that the change required to prevent human rights violations often requires the involvement of multiple parties and pressure over time. The Parliamentary Ombudsman has yet to visit the family unit. In 2015, the Parliamentary Ombudsman criticised the practice of detaining children and their families at Trandum Immigrant Detention Centre, where this photo was taken. Children and their families are now detained in a separate family unit in Haraldvangen. Increased focus on preventing solitary confinement in prison Since 2014, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has visited a high proportion of the high-security prisons in Norway. We have visited all the high-security prisons for inmates in preventive detention, women and minors. We have also visited the country’s only prison section with a particularly high level of security. In our experience, the Directorate of Correctional Service has kept well informed of each prison’s measures to follow up our recommendations. Our findings and recommendations were, already from 2015, referred to in the Ministry's management of the Correctional Service’s priorities. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security’s allocation letter for 2019 states: "The Directorate of Correctional Service must, as far as possible, ensure that the recommendations of the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the National Preventive Mechanism against torture and inhuman treatment in connection with deprivation of liberty is followed up in an adequate manner. Violations of human rights must be investigated. We ask the directorate to comment on particularly important observations and recommendations made by the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the National Preventive Mechanism, and on planned and implemented measures to meet the recommendations set out in the 2019 annual report." 30 30 The Ministry of Justice and Public Security, allocation letter to the Directorate of Correctional Service, 18 January 2019, page 17.