A/HRC/4/40/Add.3 page 19 People from different sectors agree that the major drug traffickers are rarely caught and, when they are, are able to use their economic resources to elude the draconian sanctions handed down under Act No. 285. 87. Act No. 285 is not only severe in the penalties which it imposes, such as a minimum of five years of rigorous imprisonment for drug trafficking, but also in terms of the exorbitant fines specified, ranging from a minimum of 1 million cordobas (some 61,000 United States dollars). For those unable to pay, the fine is commuted into an additional one year’s rigorous imprisonment: the minimum sentence of five years’ rigorous imprisonment is thereby effectively increased to six years. Offenders sentenced for drugs offences are not allowed to benefit from the system whereby convicts reduce their sentences through work (two days of work give one day’s sentence reduction). Neither are those convicted under Act No. 285 able to benefit from parole, like ordinary prisoners. The rehabilitative function of criminal penalties is therefore seriously undermined, since the detainees have no incentive to work, learn skills or study while within the prison establishment. Some criminal judges are not only critical of Act No. 285, but even - and contrary to the express provisions of the act - sentence convicted persons to ordinary rather than rigorous imprisonment, or endeavour to limit the application of custodial sentences to offenders who are merely users. 88. The question of the weight of the seized narcotics is crucial, since it may lead either to a sentence of 30 days’ detention for possession of drugs or a minimum sentence of five years’ rigorous imprisonment for trafficking. Everything depends on whether the quantity does not exceed 5 grams for marijuana or 1 gram for cocaine or other drugs. The principle that the established weight should relate only to the narcotic substance itself and should exclude any additives is also not uniformly respected and applied in different ways. Nor are there sufficient guarantees against possible abuses or errors on the part of the police relating to the weighing of seized drugs, which could result in serious prejudice to the persons charged. D. Situation in Bluefields 89. The Caribbean coastal region of Nicaragua differs markedly from the rest of the country in terms of its history, politics, ethnic make-up and culture. Most of its population either belong to indigenous groups or are of African descent. Historically, they have been excluded from the political life of the centre of the country and from its economic development. As a rule, Nicaraguans regard the Atlantic coast, on the one hand, as a vast reserve of natural resources with immense economic potential and, on the other, as a poverty-stricken region awash with crime, violence and drug trafficking. Traditionally, the inhabitants of the Caribbean coastal region have been ignored by the central authorities and subject to a neglect which sometimes borders on racism. These political and social circumstances must be borne in mind when appraising the situation which the delegation observed during its visit to Bluefields. 90. Eighty detainees are held in Bluefields prison (including women) and 104 men are detained in the four cell-blocks at the police station. The detention conditions in this prison may be categorized, like those in Tipitapa and Estelí prisons, as understandable, given the extreme lack of economic resources available to the prison authorities. The situation in the police station,