The Commission received complaints about discriminatory and differential treatment by doctors who reportedly inquire from prisoners about the details of their offence. In the case of certain offenders, such as drug offenders, medical officers reportedly taunt them about the crimes for which they have been convicted or remanded, and even state that the said prisoners should be able to bear the illness given the gravity of the crime they have committed, and therefore do not require treatment. This has an adverse impact on an inmate’s psychological well-being and discourages them from requesting medical attention. Prisoners from influential socio-economic backgrounds reportedly receive better treatment from medical officers, and many such prisoners were discovered to be permanent residents of the prison hospital. A medical officer may provide medical attention to a prisoner displaying visible signs of injury, but is not required to request the prisoner to be produced before a Judicial Medical Officer. This is contrary to international guidelines, which require medical officers to report signs of assault to relevant authorities. In an institution where there is inadequate scrutiny by external entities, medical officers play an important role as objective third parties and can intervene to ensure that a prison who alleges assault has access to the required treatment and legal remedies. Prison conditions have the effect of triggering psychological predispositions and, coupled with the lack of meaningful activities and separation from family members, can cause psychological symptoms to foster. Furthermore, since the prison healthcare system is not equipped to provide mental health care, prisoners suffering mental illnesses are at the risk of their mental health condition deteriorating during imprisonment. Certain prisons conduct regular psychiatric clinics and are periodically visited by psychiatric consultants, but very few prisons have trained in-house counselling officers. Where a mentally ill inmate becomes particularly violent, officers resort to isolating or restraining the prisoner, while persons suffering drug withdrawal symptoms are reportedly assaulted as means of controlling them. Many prisons house persons with psychiatric illness in one ward, which is termed the ‘Mental Ward’, and occupants of this room are often stigmatized. Transfer of mentally ill prisoners to the National Institute of Mental Health in Angoda for treatment is subject to the availability of resources for transport. 6. Contact with the Outside World The current system which facilitates prisoners’ access to contact with their families does not serve its purpose. The infrastructure of visit rooms in remand prisons does not accommodate familial bonding, and instead becomes a source of anguish for prisoners. The reason for this is that visit rooms contain opaque mesh barriers which make it difficult to hear and see visitors, and packed visit rooms have lower ventilation, inadequate lighting and high temperatures. Visits last only for a few minutes as remand prisons have to accommodate a large number of visits in a single day, and a large number of visits are conducted simultaneously, due to which prisoners and visitors have shout over each other to be heard. Prisoners stated that prison officers treat visitors in a condescending and ix