A/HRC/31/57/Add.2 prisoners to supervise the work of other prisoners. Authorities at the prisons visited denied reports of appointing “blackcoats,” or prisoners selected to mete out punishment on others under the authority of staff, although independent reports indicate that the use of blackcoats to discipline prisoners that are deemed “recalcitrant,” or to humiliate new arrivals, including by pushing, heckling and caning, continues. One inmate at Ankaful identified himself to the Special Rapporteur as the elected block leader, tasked with resolving “petty disputes” between prisoners, but did not identify as a blackcoat. The Special Rapporteur recalls that authorities have an obligation to take effective steps to prevent and remedy prisoner-on-prisoner abuse, and to ensure that prison officials are sensitized to the fact that prisoners must not be given any disciplinary authority over other inmates. Family visits 56. At Nsawam Prison, inmates have the right to receive one weekly visit of around 20 to 30 minutes, while at Ankaful they are permitted one visit every two weeks for up to one hour. Children under 18 continue to be prohibited from visiting absent special requests. The Special Rapporteur regrets that visits continue to be monitored closely by prison staff and that spaces and amenities for visits remain cramped and have not been upgraded. He welcomes the GPS’s recent partnership with MSM communications, which intends to introduce telecom services in some prisons to allow inmates to communicate with families at no cost. Plans by the GPS to gradually introduce conjugal visitation rights in prisons are also welcome. F. Death penalty 57. It is reported that the President has commuted the death sentences of 21 and 14 inmates to life imprisonment in 2014 and 2015 respectively, which has led to the reduction of the number of people in death row to 129 as of December 2015. However, it is disappointing that although no new executions have been carried out, at least nine death sentences have been imposed since the Rapporteur’s last visit. The Government’s plan to put to a referendum recommendations of the Constitutional Review Commission that require changes to the Constitution, including the removal of the death penalty, were not implemented in 2014 or 2015. 58. The Special Rapporteur draws the Government’s attention to the March 2014 judgment of the UN Human Rights Committee in the case of Dexter Johnson v. The Republic of Ghana (CCPR/C/110/D/2177/2012), which holds that the imposition of the mandatory death penalty for murder is a violation of the right to life. He strongly urges the government to implement the recommendation of the Constitutional Review Commission to abolish the death penalty to implement an official moratorium on the death penalty, and to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on abolition of capital punishment. G. Juveniles 59. The Special Rapporteur learned that separation of juveniles on remand from adults is not always assured in practice, often as a result of overcrowding and due to the fact that detention warrants sometimes do not state the age of detainees. The Government is urged to take measures to ensure that detention of children is used as a last resort and for the shortest possible period of time and reviewed on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing it, and amend the Juvenile Justice Act to provide for, and promote in practice, the use of alternative measures to detention, such as diversion, probation, mediation, counselling, or community service, wherever possible. 16