CAT/OP/TGO/1 Prison activities 33. Most prisoners are not permitted any form of organized physical or intellectual activity, whether for relaxation, work, professional training or education. The activities that do exist are held sporadically and the criteria for access to them vary from prison to prison. According to the persons interviewed, prisoners must sometimes buy the right to participate in activities. Artisanal and agricultural products produced in some of the prisons are sold to other prisoners or to visitors. The Subcommittee is particularly concerned about the situation of prisoners who are serving long sentences and who, instead of having privileged access to activities because of their situation, are excluded for “security reasons”. 34. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party offer prisoners a minimum level of activities, in accordance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, including prisoners who are serving long sentences. The State party must encourage prison labour with a view to training and rehabilitating prisoners and must ensure that prisoners receive reasonable remuneration for their work. Prison regime 35. Prisoners are mixed together indiscriminately in overpopulated cells and are subject to the same regime, regardless of whether they have been accused, are on trial or have been convicted. 36. The prison authorities have handed over the command and control of the prison regime and life inside the prison to the prisoners. The result is an arbitrary system that is not beholden to any set of common rules and thus varies from prison to prison. It is possible to buy and sell “privileges” such as the option of living in a less crowded cell, sleeping in the best part of a cell, using a guard’s cell phone, or buying cigarettes, toilet paper and hygiene products. Prices reported by prisoners vary from prison to prison, but the practice is widespread and conducive to abuse and in some cases even corruption. 37. The State party should urgently adopt regulations for all places of detention that conform to the relevant international standards. The State party should also eliminate all forms of corruption that might arise from these practices, punish the perpetrators and inform all prisoners and their families of their rights. Internal administration 38. In all the places of detention visited, the internal administration of the prison was entrusted to the prisoners themselves, following a well-established hierarchy of cell bosses and a yard chief assisted by deputies. In some cases, prison guards do not even enter the prison itself and leave its day-to-day management, including access to the cells, entirely to the inmates. The cell bosses and yard chiefs of each prison thus enjoy considerable privileges during their stay in prison. 39. The Subcommittee found that the lack of supervision by prison authorities means that the strongest or richest prisoners hold the power and wield it arbitrarily over the weakest and poorest prisoners. This self-administration generally means that any relationship between inmates and the prison authorities passes through, and is filtered by, the cell bosses and yard chiefs, making it impossible for inmates to file complaints against them. In addition, discipline and disciplinary sanctions are meted out by the prisoners, which is a source of abuse, ill-treatment and corruption. Discipline should remain at all times in the hands of the prison authorities, and should be carried out with the associated safeguards, which include ensuring that it is administered transparently, that all punishments are recorded and that inmates are able to challenge them. 40. A certain amount of self-management can be beneficial for prisoners if it does not take the place of the responsibilities of the prison administration in general and of the prison warden in particular. However, a self-management system that is unsupervised by the prison authorities is not acceptable. 41. The Subcommittee recommends that no authority to impose disciplinary measures must be granted to persons who are not members of the prison GE.17-06858 7