- 37 It is positive that – as highlighted in the Greek authorities’ communication of 3 July 2018 – international and civil society organisations were granted access to police detention facilities on almost 300 occasions in 2017. However, there were still no effective and accessible complaints procedures in place and no information was provided to detained persons on how they could access these, be it within the police or outside mechanisms such as the Ombudsman’s or Prosecutor’s Offices. In the CPT’s view, a central incidents register and effective complaints procedures are basic safeguards against ill-treatment. Therefore, the CPT recommends that these shortcomings be remedied. The information leaflet provided to detainees should also explain the right to make a complaint and detained foreign nationals should be informed about different complaints bodies and on how to make a complaint. 83. At Amygdaleza Pre-removal Centre, the delegation also visited foreign nationals who were detained at the so-called “IOM section”. According to the police authorities, these persons all had declared their intention and signed up for voluntary return from Greece to their country of origin in the context of the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). However, several foreign nationals told the delegation that they did not want to return home voluntarily and that they had not given their consent. They also alleged that they had not met any IOM representative and that they were not aware why they were held in the “IOM section”. Those who wanted to return home voluntarily stated that they all had been routinely placed in detention until their actual return. In the CPT’s view, all foreign nationals who declare their intention to sign up to IOMassisted voluntary return from Greece to their country of origin should be fully informed of the consequences of their decision (including their detention) before signing, so that they can give an informed consent. Further, they should be able to have regular access to IOM representatives during the period they are deprived of their liberty until their actual return. The CPT recommends that the Greek authorities take the necessary steps to ensure that these safeguards are respected in practice. Further, the Committee invites the Greek authorities to consider alternatives to detention for those who declare their intention to return voluntarily. 4. Conditions of detention a. police and border guard stations 84. The CPT has in its previous reports been very critical of the conditions of detention in police and border guard stations, and has repeatedly stressed that the detention facilities in most of them were totally unsuitable for holding detained persons for periods exceeding 24 hours. This remained the case for most police stations visited by the delegation in April 2018, and yet they are still being used to detain irregular migrants for prolonged periods. On the other hand, there are a few police and border guard stations that provide decent conditions of detention for short periods of stay.