12 (juges d'instruction) did not have the means to visit detainees. They also felt insecure and requested the State to convey prisoners to Court. Although DNAPES did not have sufficient means of transport this did not prevent detainees from being taken to court. Outside Bamako transport is not a problem because the courts are not far from the prisons and gendarmerie can requisition vehicles to transport detainees to court. Visit to Ministry oflustice Present at this meeting were Mr. Cheikhna Dettaba Kamissoko, Minister of Justice; Mr. Mamadou K. Cissouma, Secretary-General Mr. Baba Sylla, Technical Adviser on Prisons Mr. Amadou Ousmane Toure, Chef de Cabinet and Secretary General of the National Consultative Commission on human rights. Welcoming me to his office, the Minister emphasised that democracy and human rights are priority concern of the government. The judiciary has to be independent so that there will not be arbitrary use of power by either the state or the citizen. Humane treatment of prisoners and their rehabilitation is one of the concerns of government. The current government, therefore, welcomes international bodies monitoring the observance of human rights like the International Committee of the Red Cross. An open forum on democracy was held in Mali in December 1996. Assessment of the extent to which recommendations from the forum have been implemented would take place in September. He appealed to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights to cooperate with the government. He also encouraged the Special Rapportcur to make the necessary recommendations to Government. He gave the assurance that such recommendations would he taken seriously by government. 22 August 1997 DNAPES, Division of Detention, rehabilitation and regulation Mme Diarra, head of Division of Detention, rehabilitation and regulation explained that DNAPES would like to make conditions in all prisons humane. 13 It, however, lacked the human and financial means to attain this goal. Nevertheless social rehabilitation constituted their priority, and DNAPES had appealed to funding agencies for assistance. DNAPES has not recovered from the damage caused by the 1991 and 1992 mutinies in prisons. The workshops which were destroyed in the disturbances have not been rebuilt. What was required to ensure humane conditions were identified by her as: improvement in health conditions; education of inmates; professional training (trades and skills for prisoners); improvement in the training of prison personnel; and rebuilding of prisons. Mme Diarra added that her Division was responsible for the. administrative matters of detainees from their arrival to their release. Drawing up of prison programmes and projects were also their responsibility. Present at the meeting was Mme Diarra's Deputy, Mr. Camara. DNAPES, Division of Supervised Education Present were Mr. Amadou Karambe, Head and Mr. Diotie Tapia, Deputy Head. Although the statute providing for the establishment of the division was passed in 1990 it was not until 1992 that it was set up. The work of the Division was geared towards juveniles in prison (Bolle and Bamako) and crime prevention among the youth, especially street children. The Division has organised a training session for 40 young girls from Bolle village, and they were taught sewing and dyeing. It had encouraging results. 25 of the trainees went through the whole course. Such courses will be replicated if there is the financial means to do so. Visit to Baquineda Prison Farms The Registrar in charge is Sergent Chef Mory Sidibe. The farm is located 30km from Bamako; and it is 5km off the Bamako-Segou road. It was opened in 1970, closed in 1987, and reopened in 1994. There were 12 inmates although the prison farm could accommodate 15. The inmates had served the greater part of their sentences elsewhere. They were also petty offenders.