E/CN.4/2005/85/Add.4 page 16 prison privileges took account of their attendance at workshops, for which they were required to pay for enrolment and materials. This requirement was detrimental to pregnant women and to individuals who did not have access to the workshops because there were not enough places or because they had been excluded. 60. In the case of foreign prisoners who obtain prison privileges, problems occur during the privilege stage since they cannot work and have no identity documents or passports and Peruvian legislation does not allow them to leave until they have completed their full sentence and paid the corresponding civil compensation. As a result, in some cases, following intervention by the Ombudsman’s Office, judges have apparently authorized the departure of foreigners to their country of origin, where they must sign a monthly attendance register at the relevant consulate and undertake to pay the civil compensation. Foreign prisoners complained that on completion of their sentence their passports and identity documents were not being returned to them, which meant that they were frequently forced to leave the country clandestinely. 61. Foreign prisoners of both sexes encountered difficulties in obtaining family visits during the stay of their family members in Peru. Conjugal visits were apparently only permitted between married individuals and had been organized once in the case of married couples who were prisoners in these two centres. In the prison in Chorrillos there were 25 telephones for nearly 1,000 female prisoners, who could use them for only 10 minutes on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m. Post was received twice a month and letters could not be sent directly from the prison. 62. The governors of the two prisons visited both said that few consulates concerned themselves with the situation of their compatriots. During her visit to the prison in Callao, the Special Rapporteur met the Spanish consul in Lima. Both male and female prisoners said they rarely received visits from their consulates, and these were restricted to handing over money. The main request of the foreign prisoners was that the consular officials should keep an eye on their legal situation and provide free legal advice. Some complained that they had been swindled by the lawyers representing them, who had sometimes been recommended by the consular offices. The Special Rapporteur spoke to prisoners who claimed to have had no contact with their country’s consular office in Lima. Latin Americans and Africans appeared to have been completely abandoned by their consular authorities. The Ombudsman’s Office had apparently recorded complaints from consular representatives that the police were not complying with article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.27 63. According to the Ombudsman’s Office, nearly half of all foreign prisoners are not of Spanish mother tongue, which means that while serving their sentence they need the help of other prisoners in their dealings with the prison authorities, which are only possible in Spanish. The use of prisoners as interpreters gives no assurance of the quality of the translation in the statements and instructions of the authorities. This situation appears to have a direct effect on the assessments of the professionals on the expert body making the mandatory evaluations for the granting of prison privileges. The prisoners considered that foreigners were not guaranteed the right to a fair trial in Peruvian courts, since during the criminal proceedings they did not have the services of official interpreters, thereby preventing the effective exercise of the right of defence. The information provided to foreign prisoners on their rights and obligations is apparently only available in Spanish.