5 years (Mzuzu), others for several months (Kachere). There were at least 11 babies and young children detained with their mothers in Malawi prisons. The youngest prisoner met was 12 y.o. (Mzuzu), the eldest 72 y.o (Nkhata Bay). It is also to be noted that most prisoners have a low level of education. At Mikuyu prison, less than 4% of the prisoners (all convicted) present the day of the visit had been to school. Less than 20% at Mangochi. The illiteracy rate is also the highest in the Southern region. In essence, there is no legal aid currently. There are 7 lawyers for the whole country (10-11 millions population) and of these, three graduated recently from college. Only those facing capital cases (i.e. murder) are represented (meeting their lawyers minutes before their trial). The rest - however serious their offences - are unrepresented at trial unless they can pay a lawyer. But there are no wealthy people in Malawi prisons. Buildings, housing and separation Premises The delegation visited 13 out of the 23 prisons. All of them were found to be in a miserable state, with buildings dating back to the first quarter of the 20th century, poorly or never maintained. The size of the prisons varies a lot, from large complexes like Zomba and Chichiri accommodating hundreds of prisoners to small prisons like Mzimba. Most prisons are built with concrete and bricks, roofs with iron sheets. However, Maula women section is completely made out of iron sheets which is really inconvenient during both summer, when prisoners suffer from the heat and winter when they freeze. In many prisons, the roof is made of simple iron sheets, with no safe ceiling. They are often easy to break due to the low height of the buildings (Nkhata Bay) or are rotten and leaking (Zomba long term and life prisoners' section). In Kasungu, the ceiling is replaced by a network of barbed wire. The ceiling is being repaired in one of the cells of Nkhata Bay prison after the escape of 4 prisoners in 2000. In that prison, the capacity is 100 but due to this work in progress, one cell is not used and the number of prisoners is 56. In Kachere Lilongwe remand prison, at least 4 cells out of 12 are not used due to defective ceilings and roofs, the remaining are in bad condition. At Mikuyu prison, water is leaking from the roof in all cells and in the kitchen. At Mzuzu juveniles section, one of the cells is not used due to a broken hinge, consequently prisoners are packed in one small cell with less that one square meter each. Moreover, they are theoretically separated from adults but the fence is on a poor shape and separation not really effective. In some prisons, the combination of terrible conditions and overcrowding creates a hazard to life. In Zomba prison for instance, the capacity is 800, however, the day of the visit there were 1,912 prisoners. The units accommodating long term prisoners (block B) and convicts/remand prisoners (block A) are not suitable for the safe detention of so many persons at the same time. According to the figures provided by the administration and the prisoners themselves, block B accommodates several hundreds of prisoners. Only one stair leads into the first floor where hundreds of prisoners are sleeping. On this first floor, narrow balconies (1 m large maximum) lead into in the cells. The only exit is through the only gate of the building on the ground floor. Many of the prisoners may not be able to reach the exit in case of emergency. In block A, which is the same type of building with less prisoners, the stair is decaying, some of the stairs' steps are missing, leaving large holes where prisoners could easily fall down. This is a worrying situation, even more when considering that prisoners may have to rush out in case of emergency. Moreover, the roofs of these two buildings did not look waterproof, the walls showed traces of dampness and there were stagnant pools of water on the floor. Zomba first offenders' section and block B (long term prisoners) are very densely populated, with 1 sq. m. per prisoner on average. 1 sq. m. is also the average for Maula and Mzimba prisons. The situation is even worse in Chichiri and Mzuzu prisons where there is respectively, on average, 0.5 sq. m. and 0.8 sq. In. per prisoner in cell. The situation of juveniles in term of space is the worst. In Chichiri for instance, juveniles have 0.3 sq. m. per person, 0.9 in Maula. At Lilongwe police station, there were at least 15 persons detained in a small cell (3.5 m by 2m.) the day of the visit. The following figures were obtained by systematically measuring the size and the population of all the cells of all the 13 prisons visited by the delegation. It should be reminded that the 13 prisons visited represent 6,291 prisoners, that is 81% of the total prison population in Malawi.