I pointed out to the Chief of Cabinet that the Commission does not have the resources to provide the equipment required for effective administration of prisons in Benin. The Commission should however begin to think of how it can help in the training of prison officers, especially since this seems to be a problem not peculiar to Benin. Additionally, part of the recommendations of the report on prisons in Benin will be addressed to the donor community, and hopefully something good will come out of responses to these recommendations. Abomey Civil Prison T his is an ancient prison which was built during the days of the kings of Abomey. It was built for a capacity of 200, but had 679 inmates at the time of the visit. 248 of these, made up of 244 men and 4 women, had been tried and convicted. 375 (346 men and 29 women) were standing trial. 56 (54 men and 2 women) were on remand. 7 juveniles were in prison. Chief Adjutant Romain D. Kpoko was the Director of the Prison; and it had 13 guards. The living quarters of the guards were in a dilapidated state, as much as that of the prison. Food One meal a day was served to the inmates. The food was cooked in and brought from town, and it consists of beans or rice (Monday); beans and rice (Tuesday); maize paste and sauce (Wednesday); beans or rice (Thursday); Gari (Friday and Saturday) and maize paste and sauce (Sunday). Health and Hygiene The NGO, Terre des hommes visits the prison twice or three times in a week to take care of the medical needs of women, babies, juveniles and those about to end their sentence. Other cases of illness are referred to the hospital. If the cost of medication for a sick inmate is expensive, relatives are asked to pay for it. The prison has no dispensary or first aid kit. Soap is supposed to be given once a week, but this is not regular. Discipline The director stated that, unlike Cotonou, he has had no problem with discipline. Anyone who attempts to escape is arraigned before Court. Communication Prisoners may be visited every day from 10-12 noon and 4-6 p.m. Letters may be written or received by prisoners every day although these are censored. Problems as stated by Guards These are petty ones like insufficient food for the inmates and stealing among themselves (prisoners). Visit of the Premises The prison has twelve cells. Juveniles Section All the juveniles were in one cell. Most of them were convicts. According to them, the mats in the cell were provided a day before my visit. Many of them had scabies, and they complained bitterly about the small quantity of food they were given. Male Section With few windows, ventilation was poor. Overcrowding was a serious problem. Not all the prisoners had mats. The prison had electricity, but lighting from this source was poor, and so hurricane lamps served as additional light. Personal effects of the prisoners, mostly in plastice bags, were hung on the walls and ceiling. Complaints of Prisoners Long remand without trial was a sore complaint from many prisoners. Detention without just cause was another complaint that prisoner after prisoner repeated. While reminding them that I was not in a position to judge their guilt or nonguilt, I assured them that I would convey their concerns to the appropriate authorities. Allegations of rampant corruption in the criminal justice system were made by many inmates. In this, neither the prosecutor nor the magistrate was spared. 18 19