A/HRC/13/30 2. Follow-up to country visits 34. In accordance with its methods of work, the Working Group decided in 1998 to address a follow-up letter to the Governments of the countries it visited, requesting information on such initiatives as the authorities might have taken to give effect to the relevant recommendations adopted by the Group contained in its country visit reports.15 35. During 2009, the Working Group requested information from the countries it had visited in 2007 and received information from the Governments of Norway and Equatorial Guinea. The Government of Angola requested an extension of the deadline for submitting its comments. (a) Norway 36. In a communication dated 17 November 2009, the Government of Norway provided information on the steps taken with a view to implementing the recommendations contained in paragraph 98 of the report of the Working Group on its mission to Norway (27 April–2 May 2007)16 as follows. 37. Recommendation (a): in 2008, the Government requested the Norwegian Police University College to undertake a survey on applications for remand, restrictions and complete or partial isolation during pretrial detention. The results will be available at the end of 2009. 38. Recommendation (b): the supervision of the Correctional Services was still under consideration. A White Paper was published in September 2008, in which the Government acknowledged that the present system is not fully satisfactory. In the meantime, most decisions by the Correctional Services can be challenged at the regional and central level, and before the Parliamentary Ombudsman. Certain administrative decisions can be reviewed by courts. 39. Recommendation (c): the Government submitted its full report, completed on 30 April 2008, in Norwegian, with a summary in English to follow. The report is under consideration by the Ministry of Justice and the Police. 40. Recommendation (d): in spring 2008, the Government initiated a revision of the infoflyt database system with a view to proposing legal regulations as soon as possible. 41. Recommendation (e): the Government has discussed the recommendation and decided to continue to make use of existing bodies such as the Supervisory Commission and the Parliamentary Ombudsman. It emphasized that there is ongoing cooperation between prison and health authorities in this respect. A committee was appointed in November 2008 to identify the need for special prison units for inmates with mental sufferings; the proposals of the committee were to be completed in November 2009. 42. With respect to the “waiting list” phenomenon, the Government stated that the number of convicts waiting to serve their prison sentences is now down to approximately 300. (b) Equatorial Guinea 43. In a communication dated 29 October 2009, the Government reported on the implementation of the recommendations of the Working Group in the report on its mission 15 16 14 E/CN.4/1999/63, para. 36. A/HRC/7/4/Add.2. GE.10-10294