The Prohibition of Torture and Ill-treatment in the African Human Rights System: A HANDBOOK FOR VICTIMS AND THEIR ADVOCATES 1. Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa588 The Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa (SRP) was established at the Commission’s Twentieth Ordinary Session, which took place in Mauritius in October 1996. The Commission’s purpose in establishing the SRP was to contribute to the improvement of conditions in places of detention in Africa; the SRP mandate and functioning are of particular relevance to the issue of torture and other ill-treatment. Initially, whether to appoint a Commission member or a non-member was the subject of debate, however all of the SRPs have been appointed from the ranks of the Commission. The post is currently held by Commissioner Med S.K. Kaggwa currently holds the post. Importantly, the mandate covers more than merely ‘prisons’ and ‘prisoners’.589 As the mandate of the SRP is to examine the situation of persons ‘deprived of their liberty’, it extends to other detention centres, such as reform schools and police holding cells.The mandate therefore concerns itself with the situation of all detained persons, sentenced as well as non-sentenced.Non-sentenced detainees include those detained pending trial and those under other forms of ‘provisional’ detention. Also, the reference in the SRP’s title to ‘conditions’ of detention is misleading because the mandate has been interpreted to be more expansive. An investigation into the causes of human rights violations of detainees also extends to aspects of criminal justice, such as the legal regime that permits detention and oversight of the detention of persons on remand.Put another way, the interaction required by the SRP’s mandate is not only with ministries of prison affairs and their officials, but also with ministries dealing with criminal justice and detention in police cells. The issue of torture and other ill-treatment figures largely in the SRP mandate as both sentenced and non-sentenced detainees, in prisons as well as in other places of detention, may be tortured. The mandate is directed primarily at the examination and investigation of prison conditions through on-site country visits, and situations and conditions contributing to the violation of detainees’ rights, either by way of visits or ‘studies’.These visits and studies result in written reports on the SRP’s findings. There is a specific and a general focus: individual countries should be investigated, but research about the continent as a whole should also be addressed. 588 See generally, F. Viljoen, “The Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa: Achievements and Possibilities”, 27 Human Rights Quarterly 125 (2005). The full texts of the first seven SRP reports are available at: http://www.penalreform.org/english/frset_pub_en.htm. 589 ACHPR, Terms of Reference for the Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa, reproduced in Annex 5. 138