muddy and slippery slopes and pits as the water draining system is not adequate. This situation must be worse during the rainy season. In Nkhata Bay, the rains have eroded the soil of the yard and the buildings' foundations are affected. Religious facilities There were no purpose built buildings for religious practice in the prisons visited by the delegation. Workshops In the past, workshops used to produce mats and other items for prisons. In Mzuzu, the delegation visited a carpentry workshop. Visiting room There is a visiting room at Zomba and Chichiri prisons. Prisoners from Chichiri complained that the visiting room was very noisy. In other places visited, there was no purpose built room. Visits take place in an office or a shed next to the gate (Mangochi, Kasungu) or next to the administration buildings (Mzuzu) or outside the prison, near the main gate, under the supervision of guards (Mzimba). Library The delegation saw only one small library, in Mzuzu. It also serves as a health centre. Disciplinary cell There are no disciplinary cells in Malawi prisons. Health facilities There are about seven medical assistants and five dispensaries. Most of the time, they are not up to standards and rather unsuitable for adequate health care and storage of medicines (Zomba, Maula prisons). Moreover, they are not big enough considering the number of prisoners (Maula, Mzuzu, Kasungu prisons). This state of affairs is partly due to the fact that the prisons themselves are antiquated. Many prisons do not have any purpose built dispensary (see also paragraph on health matters) and small cells are used instead (Mzuzu prison). In many other places, there is no health facility and prisoners are transferred to the nearest hospital (Kachere prison, Nkhata Bay prison, Mzimba prison, Mangochi prison). The prison administration plans to open 8 more dispensaries and to intensify the use of Zomba hospital prisoners ward. Clothing, hygiene The lack of discipline in the field of cleanliness, overcrowding and the material conditions combined, explain the very unhygienic situation in Malawi prisons. The prison administration provides one uniform to convicted/condemned prisoners. However, most of them are worn out. Some prisons like Zomba or Nkhata Bay used to have sewing machines to repair them and make new ones, but they are out of order now. In some prisons like Mzuzu, very few prisoners, those who have spent the longest in the prison, have uniforms. Women prisoners have often two uniforms each. This is because the women population is small and most of them do not stay long. The delegation noted that prisoners lack clothing, especially when they work but also to cover them from the cold weather from April to August. Almost all of them go with bare feet although some prisoners have slaps (Zomba, Kasungu). Prisoners can not change clothing as they have only one pair even when they work or when they are sick. In Zomba and Nkhata Bay prisons, some prisoners are going almost naked and in other places many wear rags. Women complained that they did not have sanitary pads. There were no cleaning tools, nor disinfectant used in the prisons visited. The floors were most of the time not even swept. The water containers available are used for other incompatible purposes at the same time (shower, toilets, cloth washing) because there are not enough (all prisons). At Mzimba, there are 5 buckets for 120 prisoners. Moreover, some of them are plastic and fragile. Tin containers are often old and leaking and prisoners have nothing to repair them2. The provision of soap is poor. According to the Prison Act, prisoners should get soap twice a month but this is not the case. This was one of the most frequent complaints aired by the prisoners met in private or during the tour of the prisons. Prisoners also complained at Zomba that the soap and cosmetics provided by their families were confiscated by the officers. Prisoners have spent up to 5 months without receiving any soap from the prison administration at Mzuzu prison, 4 months at Mulanje prison. In Maula, they reported that the only soap they received was from outside, never from the prison administration. In Kasungu, prisoners complained that they had not received any since the year 2000. In Mzimba, prisoners received soap twice in June 2001. They did not receive any from January to March 2001 but there was no shortage in 2000 when they received soap every month. 2. They sometimes use maize to repair the holes. 14 15