MONDAY 23 AUGUST 1999 THE COUNTRY he territorial area of Benin formerly known as Dahomey is about 112,622 g. km and its neighbouring countries are Nigeria to the East, Togo to the West, and Burkina Faso and Niger to the North. The population is approximately 5,700,000. T Benin attained its independence from France in 1960 with Hubert Maga as its first President. Barely three years later, the first of many military take-overs of government to occur in Dahomey, was led by Colonel Christophe Soglo. A coalition government consisting of Sourou-Migan Apithy, a vice-president under Maga, and Justin Ahomadegbe, imposed on the country by the Colonel, ruled for two years, when Soglo staged another coup d'etat in 1965. A third military intervention led by Maj. Maurice Kouandete, whom we met in Natitingou, resulted in Lt.-Col. Alphonse Alley being made head of state. A unique civilian triumvirate comprising Hubert Maga, Somou-Migan Apithy and Justin Ahomadegbe was imposed on Benin by the military in 1970. The later to be longest-serving head of state, Maj. Mathieu Kerekou took over power in yet another coup d'etat in 1972. He ruled until 1990, when a national conference produced a constitution which ended his power. The conference also resulted in an interim government headed by Nicephore Soglo, nephew of the first coup leader Col. Cristophe Soglo, and eventually a multi-party democracy in 1991. In March 1991 Nicephore Soglo was elected President through universal adult suffrage, the first in the history of Benin. Predictably, because of the long denial of human rights, the national conference and the Constitution laid emphasis on human rights. Benin being a very politically conscious society, 5,580 candidates contested 83 seats in the parliamentary election in 1995. In the second presidential election which was held in 1996, Mathieu Kerekou was returned to power. A jail break by many prisoners, which had occurred shortly before our mission had been presaged by one in March 1993 involving over 100 prisoners from the prison at Ouidah. For ease of reporting, a chronological account of the mission follows. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation r. Francis Loko, Director for Africa and the Middle East of the above ministry had a meeting with me. I outlined the work of the Commission with particular reference to the work of the Special Rapporteurs to the Director. I encouraged him to ensure the submission of the initial report of Benin to the Commission. M On his part, Mr. Loko spoke approvingly of my mission. It was the first of its kind: a visit with the main purpose of monitoring prison conditions. He acknowledged that although the human rights situation in Benin is generally satisfactory, there are problem areas such as prisons, violence against women. The economic circumstances of Benin do not make solution of the problems facing the prisons easy. An era of rule of law and democracy into which Benin has been ushered accounts for the human rights record just described. Civil organisations such as the Human Rights Commission and Human Rights League are buttressing the fight for the protection of human rights. Since the National Conference, noted above, institutional violations of human rights have ceased. Public education to address violations by individuals has been planned. Mr. Loko concluded his remarks with three questions addressed to the Special Rapporteur: a) What assistance has the Commission given or raised for States Parties? b) What are the training facilities which the Commission give to States Parties? c) Are we not trying to make prisons more comfortable than life outside? Response: a) Limited by human and material resources itself, the Commission has not been able to give direct fiscal or material assistance to States Parties to the Charter. b) The Commission has conducted training sessions in state reporting