MEETING WITH MAITRE AMIDOU DIABATE, MINISTER OF JUSTICE - 3 DECEMBER resent at the meeting with the above minister were Mr. Bourama Sidibe, PDirector of DNAPES and Mrs. Diarra Assetou Koite, Director of the CSDR. I expressed my appreciation of the improvement which had been made in several areas of the prison regime, especially at Baguineda and Mopti. Through the minister I extended my congratulation to the government of Mali for the improvement. Two concerns of mine were expressed to the Minister: (i) The continued imprisonment of the three women at Mopti in spite of the indication of the Ministry of Justice's response to my report that they had been pardoned. The Minister shared my concern and stated that what ought to have been asserted was that a recommendation for presidential pardon had been made on their behalf Nevertheless he was hopeful of their release, and he would notify me when it occurred. The Minister also identified with my concern that male warders should not have work schedule in female quarters. (ii) I raised with the Minister my expressed desire to meet with former President and Mrs. Traore. As has been recounted already, my request was readily granted. That Mr. Moussa Traore agreed to meet me, I consider it a privilege because I was warned that while the government had no objection to the meeting, his consent could not be taken for granted, having turned down similar requests previously, notably from journalists from "Jeune Afrique". I was assured that President Alpha Oumar Konare followed the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights with keen interest. A directive had been given towards the implementation of the Kampala Declaration and Plan of Action. The budgetary allocation for feeding prisoners had been increased by hundred per cent from 350 to 700 million CFA. Although the citizenry are against spending resources on prisons, the government will forge ahead with its plans to improve prison conditions. Maitre Diabate acknowledged that a lot of work need to be done but it had started. For instance, previously warders were military, but they are now civil 42 servants. 466 such warders have been appointed. Finally, consistent with my practice of raising the issue of State Reports with relevant officials wherever I visit in Africa, I brought up the non-submission to the Commission of Mali's reports. The Minister assured me that this would soon reach the Secretariat of the Commission. Thanking me for the visit, the Minister expressed the hope that it would be an annual activity. 43