In Maputo Civil Prison, the delegation found women who complained they did not have sanitary towels to use. Some women were detained with their children who needed regular specific attention from specialist staff. There were also women under remand for long periods (7 months). There were three foreigners, one of whom complained of lack of assistance because she was too far from her country and family. She also wished to be in contact with her embassy more often. This was made known to the authorities. The Special Rapporteur would like to draw the authorities' attention to the specific problems faced by women in prison. There are fewer women than men in prison but their situation is more tragic because they are often abandoned by their families and cannot count on assistance from outside. They receive fewer visits than men, which may cause psi e hological distress. They often are more indigent and rarely have access to It,: I &assistance. Therefore, they need specific AREAS OF GOOD PRACTICE Reductionof prison population A lthough some officials said that there had not been many developments since the last visit of the Special Rapporteur in 1997, the delegation could observe that the prison population had decreased by 2000. An in-depth analysis would be useful to help to identify the reasons for this decrease and the trend. The delegation was of the opinion that this decrease could be partly explained by: the setting up of "Commissions to strengthen legality" which regularly review the legality of detention by touring the prisons and checking prisoners' files. They can decide to release prisoners awaiting trial or even bail those who are found in prison awaiting trial beyond legal limits or those who have served their sentence but cannot pay a fine (12 of them were released from Tete Province recently). The Commissions also release those prisoners who can prove that they are under 16 (at the time of the visit to Maputo Central Prison, the Commission had just released 12 of them). attention and support to ensure th ai ilk la dignity and basic rights are respected. Detention of foreigners D espite efforts reported by the authorities to develop relationships with neighbour countries and extradition or transfer agreements, some serious difficulties remain as regards the detention of foreigners. The delegation found that foreign prisoners' were held with other criminals even when they were detained under the Alien Legislation. Most of them had problems of understanding the language, problems communicating with staff, with the personnel of the administration of justice and with other prisoners. They had no contacts with then family, and were suffering materially and psychologically. They were ignorant of the laws of the country and of their means of defence. They had no or almost no contact with the diplomatic or consular representatives of their country, and had health problems. Almost all of the convicted foreign prisoners wished to be transferred to serve their sentence in their country of origin or another country of their choice. Those on remand under the Alien legislation wished to be sent back to their last country of residence. The Special Rapporteur would like to remind concerned embassies that it is their duty to protect their citizens even those behind bars and prompt them to take all necessary measures to facilitate family contacts, access to legal assistance, transfer of willing convicted prisoners and ensure that their health condition is satisfactory. 5. See in anne‘ the liNt of foreigners interviewed 32 - more use of alternatives to imprisonment such as conditional/early release. Those who are eligible are the prisoners sentenced to 6 months at least and who have served half of their sentence. - the building of more courts at provincial and district level which helps expedite cases and reduce the saturation of the coati system. Quality of leadership and prison management: Tete Provincial Prison n of the things the Special Rapporteur would like to stress is the positive impact of good management and leadership on prison conditions. The Tete Provincial Prison and its Director are a good example. As already mentioned earlier, this prison and its Director could serve as a model for the rest of the country. Despite the difficulties caused by overcrovi ding the prison has been through a dynamic process of rehabilitation and 1L.01.2,incation that is still ongoing. tie The Director has negotiated the necessary budget to have the cells, administration offices, health centre and outside walls painted and upgraded. Consequently, although too crowded, cells are physically very decent, have flushing toilets 33