as visitors who can proof that they come from another region or from a distant area are usually always allowed to see their relations even during week days. The visiting hours are usually 30 minutes per visit – thus, one hour per week. In all the prisons, there are waiting areas where visitors wait until the visiting time is announced to them. In the Addis Ababa Prison, there is a visiting room where inmates and prisoners can meet and discuss. In other prisons, such as Awasa Prison, there is simply a wooden fence built to separate the prisoners from the visitors. Both prisoner and visitor can see, hear and shake hands with each other. Prisoners complain about the lack of physical contact with visitors. The women in particular, argue that they would like to hug their children when they visit but this is not permitted. Prison authorities argue that allowing physical contact might lead to disorder as visitors can pass forbidden objects to prisoners. (b) Correspondence Prisoners are allowed to write and receive letters. They are also allowed to make telephone calls in exceptional cases. For instance, the three female foreign inmates in the Addis Ababa Prison had been allowed to call their relatives in their country of origin and to call their Ambassador who visited them in detention. Relevant Embassies are always notified if their nationals are detained. 5 Work, Exercise and Education (a) Work Most of the prisons have plans to develop prison farms. However, due to lack of space or farm land, only a few have prison farms. Work in the farms is done by prisoners and they are paid 0.75, 1.0 up to 1.5 Birr depending on the nature of the work. Prisoners in the Ziway prison complain that the pay they receive is not commensurate to the work they do. The Special Rapporteur was informed that there is no forced labour in the prisons. No work is meted out to any prisoner as a form of punishment; rather farm work and other manual work are geared towards rehabilitation and eventual reintegration of the prisoners. In the Arba Minch Prison, prisoners were found digging sewage and holes to enable the ICRC connect water to the prison. The Special Rapporteur was informed that they would be paid for their services by the ICRC. The prison authorities usually pay the prisoners a fraction of their earnings and keep the rest to be given to them upon their release. 31 Report of the Mission of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons to Ethiopia 15 – 29 March 2004