DOC/OS(XXXIII)/324c/II the courts. The most common feature was dormitory accommodation. Premises were usually dilapidated. In Luzira remand prison, there were infiltration problems in several wards, and the ceilings were about to collapse. Some wards were also affected by nearby kitchen's smoke and others were extremely hot, due to the absence of ceiling. The general state of the premises was extremely poor, with defective taps, leaking roofs, etc. Mpigi local prison was built in 1940, and was not meant initially to be a prison. It was not well maintained, and conditions were very poor. Mbale prison was built in 1956, and was in dire need of repair (sick bay building was rotten, some buildings and roofs were threatening to collapse at capital offender's section, roofs were leaking).. Mbale women dormitory and Tororo governmental prison were in the same conditions. The local administration prison in Tororo held eight prisoners only and was falling in ruins. The prison administration is trying to improve prison conditions by building, renovating or extending premises. Works had been completed in Masindi and Masaka with the support of respectively Austrian and Danish governments; more was underway or about to start at Murchison Bay and Luzira Upper prison. Overcrowding primarily affected prisons near the courts and remand sections, but people could not be transferred to less crowded places such as prison farms until they were sentenced. Luzira upper prison was severely overcrowded, with 2 049 persons for an accommodation capacity of 668. One ward had 3 rn2 cells, housing two or three prisoners. Some prisoners had to sleep in corridors. Murchison Bay open prison accommodated 1203 prisoners, for an upgraded capacity of 601 (initial capacity: 475). For example, a dormitory of 12 x 5 m (60 m2 ) in block A housed 53 persons on the day of the visit, and could accommodate up to 70, while the initial capacity was 20 persons. Mpigi local prison faced severe overcrowding: less than 0.5 m2 per person — or even more occasionally, with up to 44 each —, no blankets, no mats, no toilets... Prisoners were people in a 16m2 cell, i.e. 0.36 m2 locked-up for lengthy hours (8.00 to 13. 00 and 16.00 to 6.30) due to the lack of staff. Some wards at Kakiika prison offered less as 0.40 m2 per person and overcrowding reaches 370% (749 prisoners — accommodation capacity of 159). The yard was not large enough to contain all prisoners, even standing. In Masindi prison, the number of prisoners (553) more than doubles the accommodation capacity (268). Same in Mbale with 811 prisoners for a capacity of 376. At Kamukuzi local administration police unit, on the week of the visit, 17 to 19 people space per person. It was reported that the were detained in a 9 m2 cell, i.e. about 0.5 m2 week before, 30 persons were kept in the same cell (0.30 m2 per person). According to the register, 29 persons were kept on 19 February 2002. At Kampala central police station, people under custody can be kept by groups of up to 30 or 40 people in 10 m2. Blankets are usually distributed, most of the time by ICRC. However, not all prisoners do get one. There were 20 blankets for 100 persons in Masaka prison. Prisoners had two each in Kakiika prison women section, but had to share one blanket for three people in other places, such as Kakiika prison male sections, Luzira remand. In some places, they were provided by the ICRC, the FHRI, or relatives (Masindi, Mbale, Luzira), which did not necessarily entail that each prisoner has one (for example, new comers in Luzira Upper prison). Some were in poor condition (Masindi). Prisoners seldom have beds, sometimes mats (Luzira remand). Prisoners in Mbale said that mats, blankets, buckets and toothbrush that had been given by the Red Cross in March 2001 had not been distributed, and that they had to buy jerricans, buckets, bulbs, plates, etc. Those who could not afford buying a blanket slept uncovered; sheets were not allowed. Prisoners in Tororo local administration prison had no blankets at all. They only had bamboo mats. In Tororo prison farm, blankets were distributed the week before the visit of the delegation. Ventilation was not always sufficient. This was true the case with Tororo prison farm, especially in the remand wards, where shutters were kept closed, at Luzira, due to congestion, at Kasese police station and Mpigi local prison. It was also the case in Kakiika where prisoners complain that cells become very hot. This is all the more problematic as 18