A/HRC/28/68/Add.4 75. Section 19, paragraph 5, of the Constitution requires that if a detainee is not tried within a reasonable time then that person is entitled to be released either unconditionally or on bail. However, in practice, this is not done. It is estimated that 30 per cent of people in the prison system are held for petty crimes or in pretrial detention for years owing to backlogs and inefficiency in the judicial system. 20 76. There have been some efforts to reduce overcrowding, mostly by non-governmental groups with varied support from courts and prosecutors. The only strategic effort in this regard was made in 2013, when temporary court dates were set to review cases for those who had been held in prolonged remand, i.e., in pretrial detention for years. The project resulted in the release of about 18 to 25 inmates, mainly accused of minor offenses relating to drug possession. However, this has had no real impact on reducing overcrowding. 77. An aggravating factor is that the congested prisons are a direct result of draconian criminal laws imposing lengthy sentences for drug offences. Persons charged with those offences are subject to lengthy remand periods that exceed any penalty they might eventually receive. Solitary confinement 78. At the security wing of Mile 2 Central Prison, the use of prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement for prisoners sentenced to death or to life terms causes pain and suffering of a mental nature that is severe and has long-lasting effects. The fate of those sentenced to death is dependent on the conditional moratorium, which gives rise to the “death row phenomenon” – a combination of circumstances producing severe mental trauma and physical suffering among prisoners awaiting the implementation of their death sentences that constitutes ill-treatment. In the absence of any mitigation of the conditions, such as visits, reading material or access to radio or television, solitary confinement is torture. 79. The Special Rapporteur received testimonies that individuals were subjected to solitary confinement in the Bambidinka cell in Janjanbureh Prison, including for prolonged periods of time. Solitary confinement is also imposed on those held in unofficial places of detention for days, weeks or even months. Those places include the National Intelligence Agency headquarters, where it is standard practice for detainees to be isolated for up to 23 hours a day in small, dark underground cells infested with insects and vermin, in excessive heat, and forced to sleep on the floor. Food 80. Although the Director General of Prisons said that food rations were “obviously enough”, the Special Rapporteur received testimonies that they were inadequate, of poor quality and often infested with unwanted particles. The corrupt practices of some prison officers affect prisoners’ rations. Food supplied by family members is allowed for those on remand but not for convicted prisoners. According to testimonies received, in unofficial places of detention, both water and food were severely restricted or even denied for periods of time. Medical care 81. Medical facilities inside the prisons are of poor quality and inmates are often referred to health facilities outside the prisons for medical care. There is no routine 20 14 See “The Gambia 2013 human rights report”, United States of America Department of State, 2013, pp. 8 and 9. Available from www.state.gov/documents/organization/220328.pdf.