A/HRC/4/40/Add.3 page 13 51. In La Esperanza women’s prison, the delegation found 177 women, 147 of whom had been charged with the use or sale of narcotics and psychotropic substances. Ten women were being held for offences against property; two for sexual offences; and the remainder for breaches of law and order, the illegal carrying of weapons and other offences. In all, 135 women were serving sentences and 42 being held in pretrial custody. The women were housed in five different cell blocks. Those who showed good conduct were allowed to work inside the prison. The delegation noted a preponderance of women from the Caribbean coast in the prison. 52. Act No. 473 of 2003, the Prison System and Enforcement of Sentences Act, regulates the national prison system. This act is implemented by decree 16-2004 of March 2004. There are eight penitentiary facilities centres in the national prison system. The delegation learned, however, that there is no prison in Puerto Cabezas, capital of the autonomous region of Atlántico Norte. In Bluefields, capital of the autonomous region of Atlántico Sur, the delegation visited the only existing prison, which houses both men and women. Although these are held in different cell-blocks, there is no separate prison for women. Detention of minors 53. Nicaragua ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. It is also a State party to its additional protocols. In May 1988 the Children’s and Young Persons’ Code was promulgated. Replacing the previous legislation on minors, which was of a tutelary nature, the new legislation sets in place a special criminal system for the administration of juvenile criminal justice. It also establishes the National Council for the Comprehensive Care and Protection of Children and Young Persons (CONAPINA), which includes representatives of the Nicaraguan Red Cross and of the private sector. The district juvenile courts operate 24 hours per day and seven days per week in 13 departmental capitals. 54. Under article 63 of the code, the Office of the Children’s and Young Persons’ Ombudsman was set up. In all the country’s major cities, there are one or two ombudsmen for children and young persons. There are also procurators who specialize in this area. 55. To incur criminal liability, an offender must be aged 13 and over. The legislation establishes, however, that minors aged between 13 and 15 may not receive custodial sentences and are subject instead to special protection measures. Minors aged between 16 and 18 make up less than 1 per cent of the prison population. 56. Minors may not remain in police detention for longer than the time required to verify their identity and age and not longer than 24 hours. They must immediately be made available to the special procurators for the purpose of initiating the necessary investigations. No minor may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment longer than six years. 57. A significant number of minors in detention are being held for offences related to the use or sale of drugs. The situation is particularly serious in the autonomous regions. Many are also held for involvement in the commission of property-related offences and misdemeanours, sexual offences and domestic violence.