Detained persons have the right to receive visitors within a pre-defined time slot. Prisoners can apply for family reunification, which will then be reviewed by the judge.

Rooms or sheds from 20 to 50m² are used as parlors. They are communal, mixed and offer no privacy.

The prison administration takes advantage of the prisoners’ food, health and financial dependence during these visits.

To be eligible for receiving visitors, each prisoner must provide ID photos that will be entered into a register. Costs normally covered by the Ministry of Justice, Legislation and Human Rights but they are practically financed by the prisoners.

The goods brought by the visitors are regularly diverted by inmates-in-charge, or even by prison officers. Prisoners must pay a fee to the fellow inmates responsible to exercise their rights to visit.

Prisoners have access to telephones. The cost is covered by them. In theory, the right of correspondence is unlimited for prisoners.

The Penal Code does not define the type of sentence to which parole applies. Basically, all those sentenced to prison , including lifers, may benefit. It is up to the Minister of Justice to grant it, on the advice of a supervisory board. Therefore, the decision depends partially on the orientations of criminal policies. Several hundred parole releases were granted by the Minister of Justice at the end of 2015.

The application must include the opinion of the superintendent of the institution and the public prosecutor in charge of the case. The convicted person must have given sufficient proof of good conduct and present serious pledges of social rehabilitation.[^article] [^article]: Article 810 of Law No. 2012-15 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 2012.

Requests for parole may be made after:

• three months for sentences of less than six months
• half of the sentence for sentences of more than six months
• six months for repeat offenders sentenced to less than nine months
• two-thirds of the sentence for repeat offenders sentenced to more than nine months.

Parole is accompanied by assistance and control measures to facilitate and verify the reintegration of the released. It is revoked in the event of non-compliance with the pre-established conditions. The convicted person must then complete all or part of the sentence which was left to him in addition to any new punishment.

The same conditions apply to minors concerning parole. Persons sentenced to prison may benefit from a day parole regime. They then work outside the prison, without continuous supervision and in the working conditions of free employees. They must then return to the prison or the place assigned to them in the evening and on public holidays or non-working days. Convicts can also benefit from furloughs under certain conditions defined by decree.

The Constitutional Court of Benin has established itself as an independent actor regarding political power. When it finds a violation of human rights, its decision is transmitted to the Attorney General and the Indictment Division. Faced with the increasing number of appeals lodged with the Constitutional Court concerning the conditions of arrest and detention, it visits gendarmeries, police stations and prisons.

Nearly all prisoners (97.3%) declare that they are not aware of their rights or the mechanisms by which these may be exercised.

Legal advice must be given to certain prisoners because of the nature of their offense. More than 98% of prisoners in this situation say they have never dealt with their counselor. The prison system is not adapted to these encounters: only the prison in Cotonou has a space for the confidentiality of exchanges between prisoners and lawyers. The state does not fulfill its commitments in respect of legal advice which explains their indifference vis-à-vis records in their care.

The new Code of Criminal Procedure allows lawyer assistance from the preliminary investigation. The compulsory assignment is still scarcely practiced due to financial and geographical complications. Lawyers with offices are mostly located in Cotonou, and to a lesser extent in Porto-Novo.

The clerks are responsible for monitoring the files of prisoners. They work more in court than in the prison where they are assigned, which slows down the processing of detainees’ files.

The length of judicial proceedings poses difficulties and contributes to congestion in prisons. Pre-trial detention is more frequently used than judicial supervision or bonding. The sums charged by the judges as security are high. The period of pre-trial detention may not exceed six months as long as the investigating judge is responsible for the case. The maximum duration can be extended once in correctional matters (thus a maximum of 12 months of pre-trial detention) and three times in criminal cases (ie a maximum of 24 months of pre-trial detention).

To find out more about the judicial guarantees of detained persons, consult the following guide published by the International Federation of Action of Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT) and ACAT Benin.

The country does not have a national preventive mechanism.

The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture recommended that the country develop a mechanism in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) ratified in 2006.