26 27 Mopti Because of the paucity of cases, interrogation was completed within short periods. There was no police post at Goundam. 27 August 1997 Visit to Goundam Prison Mopti Prison The guard on duty stated that he worked seven days 24 hours each day and was relieved by another guard who worked the same schedule. The two guards alternated on a weekly basis. The inmates ate once a day (rice on Saturday, beans on Sunday, millet the rest of the week). There was neither water, shower nor toilets within the prison. Water was obtained from about 200 metres outside the prison. But the magistrate himself does not have water in his house, he informed me. Many parts of the building were cracked, and it could collapse. A section of the building had been abandoned because the walls crumbled. In a private discussion with the inmates, they complained about not getting food, blankets, mats, family visits as well as the dangerous state of the building. One inmate came from Segou. He was arrested in Goundam, and his family was not aware of it. He had not had any family visit. But they had no complaint about the guards; they had a good relationship with the guard, they said. Barerna Karambaye, Registrar, Moussa Traore, Chief of guards and Deputy Sergent Sidi Mohammed They responded to my questions and conducted me through the prison. There were 92 inmates, 64 of whom were on remand. The prison had two guards. Female Prisoners There were 3 women who had been sentenced to life, 20 years and 15 years imprisonment respectively for murder and sorcery. Two of them were mother and daughter, and all three belonged to the same family. They had served more than six years of their sentences. They were not detained in the prison but were accommodated by the Counsellor for administrative affairs of the territorial administration. They worked for him and he maintained them. Presidential pardon had been sought for them, but it had not been granted. Discussion with the women outside the prison They were fed by their employer but were not paid. The youngest had had a baby with a prison guard but would not say much about it. The oldest claimed to be 80 years old. Inside the prison Parts of it were falling apart. Half of it, I was informed, collapsed in 1994/95. The prisoners had one meal of millet a day, and rice on Sunday Some of the inmates were locked up in their cells (cells 1 and 2) 24 hours a day while others (cells 3, 4 and 5) were allowed to stay in the yard day and night. Discussion with detainees of cell 1 The heat in the room was unbearable, and it could well have accounted for the ill-health of some of them. One of them claimed that he had been beaten up by a guard the previous week for attempting to escape. Wounds and marks