ACHPR/37/OS/11/437 19 With respect to the relationship between prisoners, the Special Rapporteur was informed of the problem of new comers who are taken advantage of by the other inmates for food, sleeping space, and personal security from other inmates. New comers are forced to pay for sleeping spaces and usually assigned to clean human waste without any protection. Most prisons also employ the services of selected inmates, called “Commandants” who are basically the extended hands of the wardens. The Special Rapporteur observed, first hand, the manner some of these individuals maintained order on behalf of the wardens by intimidation and brute physical threat. Inmates also reported that the selection of such individuals was deliberately from among hardened criminals to intimidate the rest of the inmates into submission. They reported also that such favouritism and the whole arrangement of relinquishing power to selected inmates breeds enmity between these individuals and the rest of the prison community, which, if not checked, may lead to undesired consequences and even result in the loss of human life. External and internal control The authorities indicated that prisons and places of detention in Cameroon are open to NGOs, ICRC, Civil Society Organisation and the judiciary to monitor their situation. Internally, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization is in charge of prisons. It collaborates with such NGOs, the ICRC, civil and religious organisations. The ICRC frequently monitors the prisons with special attention to “security detainees.” In her discussion with the relevant authorities, the Special Rapporteur emphasised the value of external monitors and urged them to encourage such mechanisms, including the media, to ensure the humane treatment of inmates and detainees in prisons, police stations, and the gendarmerie. Health The delegation noticed that there is an acute shortage of medical personnel assigned to the various prisons, police stations and gendarmeries visited. There is no properly qualified doctor attending to the needs of inmates on a permanent basis. There is also an acute shortage of the relevant drugs to treat prisoners. Inmates are sometimes forced to pay for the medical services they are supposed to have access to for free. Inmates had reported that drugs and other medical implements are embezzled by corrupt wardens and medical personnel at the expense of inmates. (Yaounde, New Bell, Bamenda). The Special Rapporteur noted that there is a serious problem of TB spreading in the prisons and gendarmeries alike, claiming inmates’ lives. There is high demand for medical services. Severely ill inmates may have to wait several days before they could be taken to the hospital, which delay