Recommendation No. 11: “Find an appropriate solution to the problem of missing persons and ensure that a fair compensation is paid to the legal successors” 34. The issue of missing persons during the decade of national tragedy of the 1990’s is being addressed by the State since 1998. It is an issue that is inherently linked to the context of the upsurge of terrorist crime in Algeria between 1990 and 2000. Since the end of that period, no alleged case of disappearance has been recorded. 35. The Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation is a democratic response which includes the legal, social and human management of the consequences of this national tragedy. It is the sovereign choice of the people of Algeria who have chosen freely their strategy to resolve the crisis, based on the strengthening of national cohesion and the promotion of national peace and reconciliation in order to put behind them, once and for all, the serious crisis that occurred in Algeria. 36. The legal successors have been granted, without any discrimination, compensation in the form of lump-sum death benefits or monthly allowances paid from the State budget. Recommendation No. 12: “Take appropriate measures to resolve the problem of prison overcrowding” 37. It is true that for several years penitentiary administration in Algeria has been facing the problem of prison overcrowding. 38. It should be noted that Algeria inherited about a hundred prisons from the colonial era, most of which are dilapidated and do not meet the standards of humanly acceptable detention centres. Most of these prisons have a limited inmate capacity compared to modern standards. 39. In order to address this situation, the justice administration, conscious of the need to align detention conditions with international standards, is implementing an appropriate programme which includes the following: a) A programme for the construction of new facilities: 40. An ambitious programme, financed by the State, has been implemented for the gradual construction of new prison facilities which meet international standards, the main objectives being the humanisation of detention conditions and the social reintegration of prisoners. 41. A programme for the construction of eighty-one (81) new prison facilities was launched for the period 2005-2009 since the implementation of the justice sector reform in 1999. Out of the eighty-one (81) prison facilities, twenty-three (23) new facilities are already operational with a capacity of 21,900 inmates and an area of 12m² per inmate. These centres are located in the various regions of the country. The remaining prison facilities for which construction work has reached an advanced stage will help to substantially reduce prison overcrowding. b) Implementation of constitutional and legal provisions: 42. Granting of pardon and commutation of sentences: These measures, which are primarily clemency measures granted to a category of prisoners, help to significantly reduce the population, following the signing of a presidential decree, of prison facilities (complete release for first offenders). These measures also help prisoners with longer prison sentences to benefit from a shortened sentence. In general, two presidential decrees granting pardon are issued every year on the occasion of a national and a religious day celebration. Some prisoners are excluded from these measures when sentenced for serious offences, in general for crimes. 10