Appeal mechanisms also allow convicted persons to appeal against their sentence. The UNDP report states that 68% of prisoners have raised a complaint through a lawyer and 90% through the complaint mechanism. However, it is difficult to say whether complaint mechanisms are used effectively. Relationships with staff and between prisoners By and large, prisoners did not complain about treatment by the guards and officers. They often appreciated that the bad conditions of detention weie beyond their grasp and had more to do with the general state of the premises, overcrowding and with the slow justice system. Prisoners complained more about the prisoners who were appointed to oversee discipline and order inside the prison and who sometimes behaved violently towards them (e.g. beatings). There are 1,261 prison staff under the Ministry ofiustice, of whom most, 1,163, are guards. The Ministry of Justice guards undergo 8 months training and a 90day prison- based internship before being selected and recruited. The training includes paramilitary training and some human rights sensitisation provided by a human rights non-governmental organisation since 1996. The average salary for a prison guard is 1,150,000 Meticais per month, all inclusive (approximately 60 USD). The prison staff under the Ministry of Home Affairs is 792 among whom 715 policemen and 77 civilians. Guards from the Ministry of Home Affairs are policemen without specific prison training. Health matters General situation Health facilities (wards) exist in all provincial prisons. They are dependent on the Ministry of Public Health which supplies personnel and equipment, as well as pharmaceutical products within the scope of the budget allocated to "Assistance for risk groups". The Ministry is also responsible for statistics relating to illness and death in prisons. Not one of the prisons has a full-time doctor. The majority of personnel working in the prison wards are paramedics. The 3 largest prisons in Maputo have contracts with doctors who make prison visits to sec inmates 2 or 3 times a week. All other prisons send seriously ill prisoners to civilian hospitals or to health centres. According to the Director of 20 prisons under the Ministry of Justice, with very few exceptions, prison medical services have always received a donation of pharmaceutical products in the form of "Kit B" from the respective health service. Illnesses such as diarrhoea, tuberculosis and dermatological problems are almost endemic in Mozambican prisons. The major contributory factors are overcrowding, and associated health and promiscuity problems. The Director is aware that the sharing of cells by adults and minors can lead to sexual abuse of the younger prisoners. However, he claims that homosexuality in prisons is consensual and not the result of force. Five of seven prisoners from Mabalane Pemtentiai y Prison, chosen at random, told the delegation that homosexual practices took place in the prison although they themselves were not involved. All of them seemed to be aware of the risk of HIV transmission when condoms are not used. In a group of people questioned by the delegation at Maputo Central Prison, four minors all stated that certain adults coerced them into homosexual acts by either withholding food or offering money. "They put very little food on our plates and then ask us to go to their cells to do what they want, it's the only way we can get enough to eat" they informed the delegation. In Machava Maximum Security Prison, problems caused by homosexuality are of increasing concern and prison medical personnel disci eetly provide condoms to prisoners who need them. However, prison authorities disapprove of even this simple initiative. They argue that it encourage illegal sexual activity. Despite resistance to the practical measures taken by medical personnel, awareness sessions on AIDS regularly take place within the prison. Infection with H1V/AIDS is grow ing at an alarm ing rate in Mozambique generally and at an even higher rate in pnsons. In 2000, 50 prison guaids allegedly died after developing AIDS in the province of Zambezia. HIV/AIDS testing in prisons has never taken place and infected prisoners arc not released on the grounds of prognosis of imminent death due to AIDS. There is no legal provision for such release and nor does it happen in practice. In prisons under the Ministry of Home Affairs, prison authorities stated that there had been considerable progress in the last three years in measures taken for sick prisoners. Two hospitals for prisoners were presently under construction with the projects being financed by UNDP. One of the responsibilities of the commission investigating prison policy, which was formed on the basis of the UN DP report recommendations, is to propose solutions to problems which are adversely affecting the efficient treatment of prisoner illnesses. 21