DOC/OS(XXXIII)/324c/I 43 The Special Rapporteur recommends that the upper hierarchy of the police force should make it clear to subordinates and remind them firmly, in an appropriate manner and at regular intervals, that to inflict ill treatment on prisoners is unacceptable, that disrespectful, aggressive, insulting or degrading behaviour will not be tolerated and that any such occurrences will be severely punished. The Special Rapporteur recommends that steps be taken to ensure that members of the police's Special Forces do not make use of such practices. One of the most effective means of preventing ill treatment inflicted by the forces of order is for the competent authorities to diligently verify all complaints concerning such treatment which may come to their knowledge and, if these complaints are justified, to impose appropriate disciplinary and or penal punishment. The inspection of the police forces' places of detention, made by an independent organisation would greatly contribute to the prevention of ill treatment of prisoners and, more generally, to creating satisfactory conditions of detention. To be fully effective, the visits of such organisation should be both periodical and unexpected, and the organisation in question should be able to talk to prisoners without the presence of a witness. Problems of access to legal assistance Prisoners may request assistance from the State or from an NGO when they do not possess the means to pay a lawyer's fees for their defence. According to the Ministry of Justice, 40% of prisoners receive legal aid, 20% have their own lawyer and the others defend themselves without legal counsel. Some NGOs have set up legal assistance mechanisms to help prisoners who need it. Many prisoners complained about not having enough legal aid and of not knowing the procedures and their rights, particularly regarding parole, remission, legal aid, etc. Both in prisons and in police stations, prisoners awaiting trial or having appealed against their conviction complained that they did not have sufficient information about the status of their cases. There are many cases where people have requested legal aid, have paid the required NAD 150, but have never seen a lawyer and have been tried without legal assistance (notably one case in Walvis Bay). The Special Rapporteur would like to draw the authorities' attention to the case of 125 detainees in Grootfontein prison (detainees from the Caprivi region) who were awaiting their trial and did not have a lawyer, having to respond to 275 charges and appear before the High Court. The lawyers who had initially agreed to defend them ended up retracting, as they were not given access to the case files. Some of the detainees requested legal aid but it was refused. These prisoners complained that judicial guarantees are not respected, that their trial will not be fair as they are not being allowed to prepare their defence (no information, they do not know what evidence there is or the names of the witnesses, etc.). They appeared before a judge for the first time on the 23rd of August 1999 from 5:00 to 11:00 pm, i.e., 21 days after their arrest. Their case was adjourned nine times before being transferred to the High Court. All requests for conditional release were refused. Boards for release, reduction of sentences and parole The prison law of 1998 determines that national and zonal release boards should be set up. The mission of the national release board is to recommend to the Ministry of Prisons which prisoners serving sentences of more than three years, including recidivists, could be given parole or a reduction of their sentence, and the conditions for the execution of such measures.