women. The quarters also included a covered patio area which the women used to cook and store food. In light of the stifling heat and the cramped conditions in the buildings, the prison administration should consider allowing more prisoners to sleep outside the buildings, as some men and male adolescent detainees did in their quarters. 185.In Cotonou prison, the women’s quarters were separated from the men in that one had to go through a closed metal door to enter the women’s quarters. The door was guarded by a male detainee guard in a green uniform. In practice, the delegation observed that on a number of occasions the male detainee guard and other men (including the chef de brigade) entered the women’s quarters with no warning. There were four buildings in which detainees slept, but approximately 60 women, including babies and young children and all the female adolescent detainees, slept outside for lack of space. Detainees reported that there were no available places to buy in any of the four buildings due to the overpopulation. The conditions outside were extremely harsh and unhygienic, particularly for those women with young babies or for pregnant women. 186.The situation in the women’s quarters in the prisons visited was further complicated by the fact that female adolescent detainees were accommodated with adult women, as were babies and children up to age four living with their mothers in the prison. The lack of provision for differentiation among the female prisoner population is in violation of UN Standard Minimum Rule 8(d) for the Treatment of Prisoners. 187.Some male prisoners at Cotonou Prison were housed in better conditions than others. A building bearing the name Rotary, reflecting the source of donations provided for it, housed privileged prisoners. The director referred to the fact that there were some prisoners of high social status, including two ambassadors. Prisoners accommodated at the Rotary were able to leave the prison wearing a security bracelet. The registrar was reluctant to discuss with the delegation how he assigned new detainees to the different units in the prison. Some of the units at Cotonou Prison were extremely overcrowded, and prisoners described sleeping conditions similar to those observed by the delegation at Abomey Prison (see above). 188.In the male adolescent detainee unit at Cotonou Prison, around 60 detainees (aged 12 to 18) shared one cell and 15 bunk beds. As a result, half of the detainees slept on the floor. The male adolescent detainees claimed that segregation was virtually non-existent: for example, adult male detainees come to the minors’ unit to use the toilets. 189.The situation at Akpro-Missérété Prison was considerably better than at Abomey or Cotonou, in light of the low number of prisoners. However, the director informed the delegation that the prison had not yet received any beds or mattresses for the buildings, and therefore prisoners slept directly on the floor on mats. 190. The SPT recommends that the material conditions in all prisons in Benin be improved in order to provide: A place of rest and bedding (at minimum a mat) for all detainees, in accordance with article 59 of Decree No. 73-293 Access to natural light and ventilation in cells A call system in accommodation buildings for summoning the staff in case of need Arrange of outdoor facilities meeting standards for hygiene and health (ensuring access to water, sanitation, showers, laundry and adequate refuse disposal facilities) 191. More generally, the SPT recommends that the material conditions in prisons be the subject of urgent review, including the use of the space currently available and programmes of refurbishment and renovation. 192. The SPT recommends that the authorities ensure that measures are permanently in place to reduce overcrowding and to mitigate the effects of over-population. Such measures should include ensuring that all detainees have equal access to all of the above services regardless of their personal resources, in line with the principle of non-discrimination. 193. Finally, the authorities should ensure that adult and adolescent detainees are effectively separated, including separating adult women from female adolescent detainees who are not related. (b)Food 194.It was reported that the budgetary per capita allowance for daily food provision to each prisoner was 290 F CFA. At meetings with ministerial officials it was confirmed that there was a provision for food through a central budgetary allocation at the level of the Ministry of Justice. Staff at the prisons visited confirmed that the food budget is not administered by the prisons themselves. However, the actual per capita allocation was not officially confirmed, and was requested by the SPT at the final talks and subsequently after the visit. By letter of 7 November 2008, the authorities informed the SPT that the cost of a meal varied between 250 and 350 FCFA per detainee, and that the estimated annual budget for the provision of food to detainees was 500.000.000 FCFA. Measures were in place to increase this budget in order to provide two hot meals per day to the detainees. In this regard, and based on an official prison population of around 6,000 detainees, the daily cost per detainee would be 230 CFA. The SPT requests the authorities to provide more precise information on the budgetary per capita allowance for daily food provision, and the plans to increase it. 195.At Cotonou Prison, the director explained that the Ministry established the contracts for food provision for the year with various suppliers, usually one supplier per day of the week. Similarly, at Abomey Prison, the director reported that on each day of the week a different contractor provided a set cooked dish. The contractors came with staff to distribute the food. A problem of equal rations was noted by the director, but he considered this up to the chief prisoner in charge of the food for each unit. According to the registrar at Abomey Prison, the prison authorities sent an update on the actual number of detainees to the Ministry on a daily basis, who forwarded the information to the food provider based in Cotonou, who then forwarded the information to its distributors