(c) Exercise Recreational facilities are very inadequate in all the prisons. Most of the prisons have only a volleyball court which is sometimes used for football. Apart from the Addis Ababa prison, there are no outdoor recreational facilities for female inmates. This can be attributed to the small space allocated to female inmates in all the prisons. In the Addis Ababa prison, the female section has a volley ball court and some in-door games. The prisoners however, complain that they do not know how to use the in-door games as no one has taught them. In the Harar prison, the female section is so overcrowded that they do not have space even for the indoor games. They complain that they do not even have space to dress up and comb their hair. At first, they said, they were using the toilet or the bathroom for dressing up but it has become impossible as these places are always occupied. In all the prisons, prisoners spend the whole day outside the cells – from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. At night, the cells are locked and opened only for emergencies. 6 Prison Rules and Discipline The rights and duties of prisoners are spelled out in basic documents such as Proclamation 365 of 2003, including the supreme law of the land – the Federal Constitution, which provides for the basic rights of every individual. Prisoners are informed of their rights when admitted into prison. The basic rules and regulations and basic rights of the prisoners are pasted in the cells of most of the prisons. In the Adama Prison, the rights and duties are pasted at the entrance to the men section of the prison. When prisoners are admitted into a prison, they spend about 15 days in a holding cell, a cell for new comers. The prisoners’ Reception and Cell Allocation Committee would then address the newcomers, giving them details about the prison before allocating cells to them. The Justice Committee would also inform them about their rights and duties as prisoners. It is not clear however, whether the inmates are familiar with the prison rules including their rights as prisoners. Many of them claim they do not know the procedures for applying for pardon or clemency. Some argue that even though the law requires that after serving ¾ of one’s sentence, a prisoner can be released, they are never released. Some prisoners complain about the appeals process, indicating that they would like to appeal against the decision of the court but do not know how. The authorities argue that the law regarding pardon is not clear and a new simplified version is being debated in Parliament. On the issue of parole, the authorities state that parole is not automatic to all prisoners who have served ¾ of their sentences. Other issues such as behaviour, possibility of integrating into society etc are taken into account. It 33 Report of the Mission of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons to Ethiopia 15 – 29 March 2004