DOC/OS(XXXIII)/324c/I 44 The zonal release boards act in one or more zones. At the request of the head of a prison, they are entrusted with examining and granting parole or a reduction of sentence to a detainee serving a sentence of less than six months. Zonal commissions also have the task of recommending to the Commissioner of Prisons which prisoners serving sentences of between six months and three years could benefit from a reduction in their sentence or parole, as well as the conditions for executing such a measure. At the level of each prison, a board (called Institutional Boards in maximum security prisons and Management Commissions in other prisons) is responsible for recommending the prisoners to the release commission. In practice, the zonal boards do not work and have not even been set up. This means that the prisoners serving sentences of less than three years cannot benefit from parole even though they may be eligible to do so. As 81.4% of the prison population was sentenced to less than two years of imprisonment in the year 2000, this malfunction of the release baords is certainly one of the major sources of prison overcrowding. Sentence reductions are partially applied (up to one third of the sentence). It should be noted that the prison law excludes reductions of sentences in a large number of cases. Thus, recidivists, those sentenced to life in prison, criminals who have committed or tried to commit an act of violence against women or children, treason, murder, rape, theft, cattle rustling, escape, breaches of the drug laws, car theft, burglary with criminal intent, breaches of the law on the conservation of nature or on protected wildlife, are in principle not eligible for reductions in their sentences. Added to this, there are the extremely severe conditions imposed on the granting of parole, which are so demanding that hardly any prisoner can fulfil them. According to the Ombudsman's office, these conditions render parole impossible. This situation is under study by the authorities. The Special Rapporteur wishes to remind the authorities that parole is an essential measure. It constitutes a good means of favouring the reintroduction of convicts into society and prevents recidivism. In fact, apart from a very small number who have been sentenced to life in prison, most prisoners eventually leave prison. Parole is an individualised way of releasing prisoners under the best possible conditions, both for themselves and for the safety of society, as prisoners who benefit from parole are not released unconditionally. It is not a pure and simple release, without any control, as is the case with a presidential pardon. The Special Rapporteur would like to encourage the authorities to do their utmost to relax the conditions for granting parole and start the zonal release boards functioning effectively and without delay. This would considerably help to alleviate the problem of overcrowding and would also improve the chances of rehabilitation for the prisoners.