DOC/OS(XXXIII)/324c/I 8 It is undeniable and appreciated that in the course of the visit the officers in charge and their personnel divulged a lot of information in relation to the prison institution and the delegation very much appreciated the introductory note prepared in advance by the prison administration and the complete report presented by each director to the Special Rapporteur at the beginning of the visits to every establishment. At the end of each visit, the Special Rapporteur made some recommendations to the authorities, which gave rise to several exchanges of views. The Special Rapporteur also wishes to point out that staff as a whole were very flexible with regard to their work hours so that the visits were carried out as smoothly as possible and according to the wishes of the Special Rapporteur. She was especially touched by the warm welcome (singing and dancing) she received in some establishments and would like to thank the personnel and prisoners who took the initiative to do so. The Special Rapporteur encouraged the idea as it keeps prisoners in good spirits. The Special Rapporteur also benefited greatly from the help of the Legal Assistance Centre during the organisation of her visit and while it was under way. Nevertheless, in spite of this generally positive picture, the Special Rapporteur had great difficulty obtaining permission to visit some police stations that she had chosen. Before her arrival, and in spite of renewed requests, it was not possible to receive a clear official response. Once she was in Namibia, she initially met with the refusal from the police authorities. After negotiations, they finally did allow the Special Rapporteur and her delegation to visit certain police stations. The visiting schedule was thus somewhat uncertain up to the last moment. This had serious consequences in the way the mission developed, as the programme had to be reorganised considerably once the authorisations had been given. The Special Rapporteur would like to point out that the mandate conferred on her by the Heads of State of the African Union is to visit the places of detention of her choice in order to verify the conditions of detention in these places. Obtaining information on the police stations of Namibia was therefore necessary in order to accomplish this task, in view of the fact that a large number of people are detained in these establishments. The Special Rapporteur also wished to verify the correctness of the information that she had received when preparing her visit, which was giving rise to concerns. This she managed to do in the end, with the exception of the allegations concerning the police station of Dordabis. To conclude, the Special Rapporteur was very pleased with the spirit of cooperation shown by the authorities and is sure that all the parties concerned will take into consideration the comments and recommendations made in this report in a constructive manner. Context of the visit In the year 2000, the Government approved a new Prison Policy Document and mission statement that should enable the prison administration to distance itself from the purely punitive nature of its actions practised till then, and to set up a system that would observe human rights, the effectiveness of the sentence, rehabilitation, alternatives to prison, appointment of qualified staff and cooperation between all the partners in the justice system and the community. The aim is no longer to increase the capacity of prisons. The construction of four additional prisons since 1995 has not solved the problem of prison overcrowding. The prison authorities are therefore envisaging other measures and consider the current period as transitional, working towards fulfilling the aims of this Document. To them the government's support is viewed as considerable progress necessary for achieving the planned reforms.