MONDAY 30 AUGUST Central Police Station, Natitingou T he head and his deputy were not at the station. The only officer present was, at first, unwilling to open the cells for us, because he had had no instruction concerning my mission. But he relented and eventually allowed me into a cell with a suspect. Complaints of suspect The officer in charge of the station put him in the other cell which has more light, but the officer we met forcibly moved him into his present dingy abode. Against his protestation, his clothes were forcibly taken off; and he was butted and handcuffed. He had not eaten since the previous day. Although he had asked the gendarme (Officer) to inform his family about his detention this has not been done. The Officer had his story to tell. Because he was the only one on duty, maximum security measures were needed, hence his treatment of the suspect. His clothes were taken off because some suspects tried to use belt buckle to open the door. He was not aware that the suspect had not eaten. He would have shared his food with him. Since he was alone he could not go to ask the family of the suspect to bring him food, which suggests that he must be aware that the suspect had not eaten. The Deputy Commander arrived at the station, and expressed outrage at the handcuffing of the suspect and his treatment by the gendarme. The officer conveniently disappeared form his post while we were with the Deputy Commander. Later in the day, the former President, referred to above, received us in his house. The SR expressed his appreciation of our host's commitment to improvement of prison conditions in Natitingou, and encouraged him to continue in this direction. Lokossa Civil Prison eeting with the Director of the Prison. The two magistrates in the area, the Prosecutor and his assistant were present at this meeting. The Director recently assumed duty. M Asked of his plans to speed up prosecution, the Prosecutor answered that to get rid of the backlog a session has been scheduled for Tuesdays. An additional magistrate has also been assigned to the area. After the legal vacation, hearing of cases will resume, and all those not charged will be released. There are many serious crimes in this area. 7 out of 10 crimes are serious. A military operation to help the understaffed gendarmes to deal with crime in the area has resulted in many more people being brought into custody. Furthermore, in order to save suspects from mob justice, which is rife in the area, they are taken into custody. The Prosecutor would like to see a trained prison staff and not gendarmes. The SR promised to explore the realisation of this worthy objective. Data on Prison Built for 200 Current population Female Male Remand Convicts Guards 397 5 392 246 (75 prevenus and 181 inculpes) 151 Previously 11 but now only 6. There was no juvenile in prison. Consequently the section for juveniles was inhabited by male prisoners. Food Once a day food was brought from outside the prison. It is served between 12.30 - 1 p.m. The prison has a six acre land adjacent to it. But because the prisoners tend to escape, they were not allowed to engage in any agriculture. 42 43