A/HRC/7/66 page 13 criminal acts, some of which were not swiftly investigated and pursued. Most detention facilities remain overcrowded and conditions, including sleeping arrangements, health and food supply, were poor. 43. Violations of due process by the police were also observed in many cases, such as the detention of accused persons beyond the statutory period and the failure to give the reason for arrest and detention. There were also reports of the police using blank warrant papers signed by the magistrate in advance, which they routinely used to imprison accused persons directly without further reference to the courts. One shocking example of the denial of due process was the detention for years of 13 prisoners at the Pademba Road prison on whom no records of trial and sentencing existed. On 10 August, the 13 prisoners were released from the prison by the Supreme Court. Some of them had been in prison for more than eight years. 3. prisons 44. The UNIOSIL Human Rights Section conducted an assessment of the conditions of prisons and issued a comprehensive report, which was formally presented to the Government in June 2007. Since then, the conditions of some of the prisons have improved. For example, in Kenema prison, a wall has been constructed to separate male and female prisoners, and a tap for drinking water was installed. Vocational skills training for young people serving prison sentences was launched in Porto Loko Town, implemented by Prison Watch, a non-governmental organization, with the support of the World Bank. Also, after a series of extensive training programmes by the Section following the release of the report, progress has also been noted in the adherence of prison officers to international human rights standards. There are no reports of corporal punishment in prisons and prison officers are now refusing to accept juveniles for detention. 45. Despite these positive developments, overcrowding remains a challenge in prisons, especially in Freetown, Bo, Kenema and Makeni, which were overcrowded throughout the year. Living conditions have deteriorated in these prisons. In 2007, the prison population of Pademba prison, with a capacity of 314, varied between 900 and 1,176, 50 per cent of whom were trial prisoners. Backlog courts established to fast-track the trial of chronic cases have not had any significant impact on reducing the number of people on remand or being tried. 46. In 2007, irregular and inadequate supplies of food and medicine were a chronic problem for prisons. In the overcrowded Pademba Road prison, more than 20 prisoners died owing in part to poor living conditions and medical facilities. When the supply of food, drugs and other necessary items was suspended between May and August because of the non-payment of arrears to vendors by the Government, UNIOSIL and UNDP provided emergency food, water and medicine to the prison, where the problem was acute. 47. Living conditions in remand homes remained poor in 2007. In August, 25 juveniles escaped from the Kingtom remand home in Freetown because of the poor living conditions and lack of appropriate security. The juvenile court in Freetown routinely committed juveniles to Pademba prison, where a check revealed that juveniles were being sexually abused by adult male inmates. On 12 December, a 16-year-old juvenile inmate died as a result of complications arising from acts of sodomy committed while in Pademba.