ACHPR/37/OS/11/437 23 way, as he did, in having the inmates on his side for a better prison life without any kind of threat against the inmates. The inmates generally obeyed his instructions, kept themselves and their compounds clean. Lease of Prison Labour at Mfou Women’s Prison The Special Rapporteur was informed that the management of this prison leased out prison labour to the surrounding farmers for a consideration. The Special Rapporteur wishes to commend this effort to engage prisoners in gainful activities with a parallel interaction with the society at large. It is also noted that while this creates opportunities otherwise normally unavailable to prisoners, caution should be exercised and procedures and security arrangements should carefully be studied before this can effectively be copied to other prisons. As an important mechanism to ameliorate prison congestion, at least on a temporary basis (since inmates are required to report back at the end of each day’s work), this arrangement should be encouraged as one promising way to rehabilitate and eventually reintegrate inmates back into the society. NGOs’ actions The Special Rapporteur would like to mention the programmes and activities undertaken by various NGOs and civil society organisations in collaboration with the various religious institutions, and recommend to the country’s authorities that they further strengthen their collaboration with the structures created by civil society. The projects and skills that these organisations have developed or wish to develop in partnership with the authorities are part of the innovative and constructive spirit that the country’s authorities would like to encourage in the fight against criminality, with effective rehabilitation of offenders and respect for human rights. In addition to these, the Special Rapporteur wishes to add that the self-help practice of running an open market in prisons (New Bell, Yaunde, Bamenda) and the establishment of separate living quarters for minors in some prisons is commendable. Recommendations Complementary information required from the Government of Cameroon The Special Rapporteur wishes to obtain: