to recognize the equality of all citizens explaining why the Government has put in place measures to support and reintegrate former slaves into the society. He admitted, however, as is always the case in addressing entrenched human rights violations, the beginnings are always difficult but was optimistic that good progress is being made. 46. In reply to Hon. Boulkheir statements, the Chairpersonrecommended that efforts should be made to adopt specific legislation criminalizing torture and emphasized the need for the practical application of the law against slavery. v. Meeting with the Director of State Security, 26 March 2012 47. The delegation met with the Director of State Security, Mr …. During the meetingissues bordering on the respect of procedural safeguards for the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty were discussed. The Director indicated that the laws of the country guarantees the dignity of the human being and that the country has been making efforts to ensure the existence of the minimum conditions of dignity to all detained persons. He recalled that Mauritanian law prohibits all forms of inhuman and degrading treatment and that the torture of inmates is not permitted. 48. The Director, however, admitted that the situation in some detention centers does not always meet the requisite requirements because of scarcity of resources. Responding to a question from the Chairperson on the issue of secret places of detention, which allegedly exist in Mauritania, the Director stated that he is not aware of such places. He stated though that that very dangerous criminals like (suspected) terrorists who cannot be kept in open or normal prisons are kept in special detention centers. He refuted the idea that these detention places centres are secret places of detention where torture is practiced. He underscored that even with these very dangerous criminals, the policy and practice of the Government is to ensure their dignity. The Director emphasized that the Government of Mauritania always work to conform to international standards but its efforts are hindered by the scarcity of resources which does not always permit it to provide adequate infrastructures for places of detention. 49. In response to a question from the Vice Chairperson on whether law enforcement officials receive training on human rights, the Director indicated that law professors from the University of Nouakchott train students at the National Police School on human rights in general and in the African Charter in particular. The Vice Chairperson then recommended that the Robben Island Guidelines should be included in the human rights component of the training and that all 18 | P a g e