E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.3 page 18 III. THE SITUATION IN PRISONS 58. It is not part of the Special Rapporteur's mandate to give a detailed analysis of conditions of detention. In the case of Venezuela in particular, moreover, he did not consider the prison situation a priority owing to the fact that, only one week before he had arrived in the country, there had been a visit by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which had concentrated specifically on the question of prisons. Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur took advantage of his stay in Venezuela to visit three establishments, as he usually does in the course of his country visits with several objectives: to interview some persons deprived of liberty and the authorities of the establishments, in order to check for signs of practices there which might be deemed as torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and to ask detainees about their experience in that respect before arriving at the establishment. 59. Bearing those objectives in mind, the Special Rapporteur visited the following establishments: Casa de Reeducacíon y Trabajo Artesanal El Paraíso (El Paraíso Re-education and Handicraft Centre) (La Planta), the Juvenile Division of the Judicial Police (Coche), both in Caracas, and the National Prison of Maracaibo (Sabaneta). The Special Rapporteur also received information regarding the situation in prisons from governmental and non-governmental sources. 60. Among the aspects related to his mandate, the Special Rapporteur considered the most problematic to be the overcrowding which prevails in the majority of the country's prison establishments. According to data provided 20 by the Attorney-General's Office, at the end of 1995, La Planta had 1,768 inmates, for a capacity of 400; the Internado Judicial of San Juan de Los Morros in Guárico had 1,066 inmates for a capacity of 200; the General Penitentiary of Venezuela in Guárico had 2,185 inmates for a capacity of 750; the National Prison of Maracaibo had 2,314 inmates for a capacity of 800; the Internado Judicial of Mérida had 579 inmates for a capacity of 150; and the National Prison of Ciudad Bolívar had 1,190 inmates for a capacity of 400. According to other sources, the Internado Judicial Capital El Rodeo, State of Miranda, had a prison population of 1,126 for a capacity of 600 in October 1996, while the Retén e Internado Judicial Las Flores de Catia in Caracas had a total of 1,758 inmates for a capacity of 750. 61. In the course of his visits to the establishments of Sabaneta and La Planta, the Special Rapporteur had occasion to observe how the overcrowding is experienced on a day-to-day basis in premises which in addition suffer from serious deficiencies. The director of La Planta clearly said that the establishment's problems arose from the situation of overcrowding. He explained that the establishment currently held 33 detainees under the Law of 21 Vagrants and Crooks (Ley de Vagos y Maleantes) and 29 juveniles considered to be particularly dangerous, and that prisoners were not classified in any particular way. Some 30 inmates were in punishment cells. The Special Rapporteur visited one of these cells, which contained three persons, two of whom showed symptoms of mental confusion and loss of time sense. The cell, which was in a disastrous state hygienically, was deprived of any furnishings, including beds or mattresses, and lacked any natural light or ventilation. The Special Rapporteur also visited some of the rooms where the prisoners