E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2 page 27 held in these cells for more than three hours. In the investigators’ room, the Special Rapporteur discovered some iron bars which were said by the authorities to be evidence. The Special Rapporteur noted that they were nevertheless not tagged and therefore did not believe this explanation was plausible. The Special Rapporteur confirmed information he had gotten at the previous police station, i.e. that there is no standard registry book in which all the information regarding a case is recorded, in particular when a person is brought in and let out or transferred to another establishment. 75. Finally, the Special Rapporteur visited the 1st District Police station in charge of theft and robbery, where no suspect was currently being interrogated or held. The lock-up was composed of two pitch-dark large cells. The delegado indicated that people were usually detained only for a few hours. Later, after the Special Rapporteur had consulted the registry book, the delegado admitted that a group of persons had recently been held in this police station for eight days before it was possible to transfer them on remand to a penitentiary in another state. At the back of this police station, there were 12 large pitch-dark cells measuring approximately 15 square metres. They were said not to have been used for a very long time. The presence of dust and spiderwebs seemed to confirm this. To explain the absence of any person under police arrest, the delegado showed the Special Rapporteur a registry book indicating that there were only between 10 and 25 persons arrested per month. Since the beginning of September, only four persons had been arrested and brought to the police station. According to the delegado, most of the people held there were arrested under a judicial warrant; only 40 per cent were believed to be held after having been arrested in flagrante delicto. Non-governmental organizations were surprised that the Special Rapporteur did not see anybody under arrest or being interrogated during his visit to the three police stations, which were believed to be located in high crime neighbourhoods. They were inclined to believe that the small number of persons recorded in the registry books shown to the Special Rapporteur was due to improper recording of arrests and detentions. 2. A prison 76. On 7 September, the Special Rapporteur visited Anibal Bruno Praesido where 2,971 detainees were held whereas the official capacity of this penitentiary was said by the authorities to be 524. The overcrowding problem was recognized to be the most difficult one that the institution had to face, and was accentuated by the fact that, at any time, the Director had only 15 military police officers and 8 prison officers at his disposal to ensure order and the security of this vast prison. Furthermore, he pointed out that military police officers assigned to penitentiaries receive only one week of training, in which NGOs were said to participate. Understaffing was also given as an explanation for letting prisoners out of their cells for only a few hours every day. The Director informed the Special Rapporteur that since his appointment in April 2000, there had been no revolts. A number of measures had been taken to diminish the tension and to maintain calm and order amongst the detainee population, such as allowing families to spend one night every fortnight with their incarcerated relatives. Psychologists, social workers, lawyers, doctors and nurses were said to visit the prison on a regular basis and to undertake various activities with the prisoners, some of whom were also working in small units which had been set up in collaboration with the private sector. Nevertheless, responding to a question of the Special Rapporteur, the Director acknowledged that, for example, during the