14 The farm covered an area of 9.5 hectares, 4 hectares of which were cultivated (3 hectares for millet produced 1.4 tonnes in 1996, 1 hectare mangoes). 5.5 hectares are used for grazing. The prisoners worked on the prison farm for part of the time, and on their own plots for some of the time. Family visits were allowed, and the inmates could correspond with the outside world. As regards food DNAPES had supplied 2 tons of millet, 1 ton of rice and another ton of beans to provide the inmates with 3 meals each day. Relationship with the local community: The local population, the registrar stated, were not happy with the location of the prison. They feared that prisoners could steal from the village and escape. He admitted that lack of sensitisation accounted for this attitude of the local community. There had not been positive result as far as the rehabilitation of prisoners was concerned. Most of the inmates had tried to escape from the farm. While they were not satisfied with their conditions they recognised that those conditions were better than those in the regular prisons. Private-Discussion With Prisoners They complained bitterly about their conditions of life: their living conditions were bad, they were overcrowded and had neither blankets nor clothes (they were not naked though); their supply of soap was not sufficient; and they had no cleaning material. The small structure which housed them had poor ventilation. From their viewpoint DNAPES did not pay sufficient attention to their conditions of life because they were perceived as already enjoying a privileged regime of partial release. They also complained that they were excluded from consideration by the selection committee for presidential pardon. In Mali there is no judge who reviews the terms and conditions of a prisoner's sentence. Sentences are reviewed and reduced at the mercy of the president. 15 They get nothing from working for the administration. They work for the administration in the morning, and in the afternoon for themselves (whenever they have the means to buy seeds) or offer their services to the villagers. Visit to Bamako Central Prison The Director of the Prison Amadou Diarra is an officer of the Gendarmerie. I-le introduced some officers of the prison, Mme Diarra, a social worker and Major Attouhen Ag. Acheikh, Chief of the guards. Built for 400 inmates, there were 1025 inmates made up of 1003 males and 22 women. Among the males were 30 juveniles. 64 of the inmates arrived when they were juveniles. The youngest juvenile was 15 years old. The oldest inmate was 60 years old. Of the total number in prison 922 were on remand with some having being in that status for five years. There are different wings for women, juvenile, those on remand and convicts. Slow dispensation of justice accounts for the long remands. Guards and administrators number 30. The Director had not found transport a problem in getting prisoners to court. By his account, daily visits to inmates posed no difficulty and were unrestricted from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Between 15 August and 22 August more than 19900 visits had been registered. Correspondence with the outside world was allowed, and only incoming mail was censored. Meals were served 3 times each day (rice and millet). There was no prison uniforme Prisoners wore their own clothes but those without clothes were supplied with some. Soap and washing powder were distributed once a month. The assistance to the prison of organisation such as CICR, ENDA and the Red Cross was acknowledged. Sanitation posed a major problem to the prison. The drainage system was faulty, and so dirty water could not be drained easily out of the prison. The prison had sections with a total room number of 23. Each section has a tap and toilets, one school but no library. Sewing workshops were out of use, and the same was true of carpentry and mechanics. Magistrates could, but rarely did, visit detainees