A/HRC/26/45 D. Release from custody 94. Eritrea holds numerous detainees without charge or due process. Some detainees are still in prison after over a decade, and others have died in detention. There are reports of many detainees being released without a court process or trial. 95. Release from detention may occur in the following circumstances, although re-arrest and detention anew are possible, inter alia: (a) on providing proof of completion of national service by a family member; (b) on payment of a fine of 50,000 ERN in respect of a family member who has left the country; (c) upon a family member or third person stands as guarantor; (d) upon a family member or third person putting up their house or property as guarantee; (e) after being threatened with torture or degrading treatment for continued religious practice, even of State-approved religious faiths; (f) after renouncing religious faith, if not of one of the four State-approved religions; (g) upon completion of length of “sentence”; (h) just before death due to torture or poor health during detention. E. Challenging the legality of detention, recordkeeping and monitoring of detention facilities 96. Detention without recourse to justice is common in Eritrea as there are no avenues for detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities or to request investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions or torture. There is no independent authority serving on behalf of detainees. Furthermore, detainees and family members do not challenge, let alone ask about reasons for, detention, for fear of reprisals. 97. While minimal records are kept on arrival at a detention facility, recordkeeping procedures are not systematic, making it impossible to ensure that prisoners are not held beyond the maximum sentence for an “offence”, or to ascertain whether there has been a court process at all. Official registration and recordkeeping for each person in custody is a primary tool for ensuring transparency and protecting the detainee, and would ensure that prisoners are not “forgotten” in custody, if the officer who put them in custody can no longer be contacted. 98. The State does not investigate or monitor conditions in detention centres, nor do they permit independent monitors to do so. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that independent monitoring of prisons is an important requirement stipulated in a number of international conventions and standards, including the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Monitoring can be implemented in a number of ways, including through judicial oversight, setting up of statutory bodies, such as independent inspectorates and Ombudsman offices, civil society initiatives, such as boards of visitors, or international monitoring. VI. A. Conclusions and recommendations Conclusions 99. Eritrea lives in a state of constant preparedness for combat based on what the State terms as a “no war–no peace” situation. The Special Rapporteur does not wish to elaborate on war or the threat thereof because, as indicated in her first report, she 19