DOC/OS(XXXIII)/324c/II prisoners often stay locked inside more than half of the day for security reasons (due to lack of staff and the compound not being properly secured). Light was often lacking in police stations (Kasese police station, Kampala Central), or during the night in prisons (in Masindi, there was no light to go to the toilets at night). On the other hand, it was left on all night in some wards at Tororo prison farm and in Masaka. In the elderly people's ward in Mbale, the electrical device was very dangerous. In Luzira upper prison, lights are switched off by rule at 10.00 pm, but prisoners could do it themselves at any time by separating electrical wires. However, some wards had no bulbs. The ward accommodating juveniles, elderly people, and ward and religious leaders was dark. In Luzira remand, electric wires were also in a poor state. Electrical device were generally deteriorated (e.g. bare wires) and constituted a real danger of electrocution or fire in many places (Luzira remand, Mbale F block): prisoners would for instance switch of the light by manipulating the wires, while water would leak from the ceiling. Conditions in police stations were usually difficult. At Kasese police station, there were no windows, hence no fresh air, whereas 15 people were in the cell on the day of the visit, and up to 18-20 could be there on other occasions. At Mbale police headquarters, the premise were very dirty and smelt very badly. There was almost no light and prisoners said they were becoming blind. They had no blankets, nothing to sleep on. One of the cells in Mbale police headquarters had nine detainees in 10 m2, i.e. 1.1 m2 per person. In Kampala central police station, prisoners had less than 0.5 m2 per person. Some cells did not have any light, and only a very small window. Disciplinary cells Isolation in a disciplinary cell for a limited period is provided for as a punishment in the prison rules. There were 18 individual cells in Luzira upper prison, 5 of which were used for isolation purposes. Five persons were detained there on the day of the visit, four on remand — one of them for eight years — and one convict; according to the Officer in Charge, they were political prisoners and were kept here for security reasons. They had no toilets and isolated prisoners were never allowed to go out. Other places had punishment cells, but they would not be used (Murchison Bay). One of the six in Luzira was used on the day of the visit. Those punished, according to prisoners, did not receive water and visits were suspended. Isolation cells in Masaka could be used for up to two weeks, but punishments were usually no more than two or three days and were assorted ranging from penal diet to prisoners not being allowed to get out of the cell. An isolation cell in Kampala central police station was used as punishment for those refusing to clean the toilets with bare hands. Kitchen The poor state of the kitchens usually made it impossible to prepare more than one meal a day for prisoners. Luzira remand was an exception, having five modern wood stoves donated by the ICRC in 1999, which permitted to prepare food quickly and to serve three meals a day. Murchison Bay used to be equipped with such stoves, which required only one hour to cook food for all prisoners and allowed for three meals to be served. However, they were only used between 1990 and 1993, and are not any more for lack of fuel and electricity. Moreover, sewage deficiencies, insufficient water supply and lack of equipment prevented food from being prepared under hygienic conditions. The absence of energy saving device — with an exception in Masindi and Luzira Upper prisons— entailed incurring high costs in the purchase of firewood. This is aggravated in some cases by transportation problems suffered in bringing the firewood to the prison. The kitchen in Mbale was dirty and had sewage problems. There was only one tap, and three clay-stoves. The Kitchen in Tororo prison farm 19