E/CN.4/2001/66 page 72 323. Concerning Bazu, whose Buddhist name is Ngawang Kyonmed, he was detained on 17 December 1998. On 10 March 1999, proceedings were instituted against him and on 6 January 2000 the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment on the charge of incitement to split the State. He is currently serving his sentence and is in normal physical condition. 324. Concerning Samdrul, whose Buddhist name is Chilai Qudan, he was detained on 19 June 1998 and arrested on 17 December 1998. On 10 March 1999, proceedings were instituted against him and on 6 January 2000 the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment on the charge of incitement to split the State. He is currently serving his sentence and is in normal physical condition. 325. Concerning Norbu, whose Buddhist name was Liexie Danqu, he was arrested on 5 May 1995 on suspicion of protecting criminals. On 22 November 1995, the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to one year’s imprisonment. In February 1996, he was released after serving his sentence. He died in his home town in 1998. The Government indicated that an inquiry had confirmed that he had not been tortured while in detention. 326. Concerning Tashi Tsering, he was arrested on 26 August 1999 in flagrante delicto while trying to ignite some explosives in Potala Square in Lhasa. He candidly confessed to the crime. During his detention, he attempted to kill himself on several occasions. On 15 October, his arrest was approved by the Lhasa Municipal People’s Procuratorate. On 10 February 2000, he committed suicide to escape punishment by severing his veins with a sharp instrument. An inquiry confirmed that he had not previously been tortured. 327. Concerning Li Juhua, Zhou Zhi, Yang Junhua and Zhang Xiaohong, the Government indicated that it was not able to determine their whereabouts. 328. Finally, the Government indicated that it had consistently prohibited torture and other forms of ill-treatment and had adopted various effective measures to prevent and to punish such acts. It stressed that the People’s Republic of China was one of the earliest States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and has conscientiously fulfilled its obligations. Article 246 of the Criminal Law provides that any judicial functionary who extorts confessions from criminal suspects or defendants or extorts testimony from witnesses by violence shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, or to criminal detention. If their victims are injured, maimed or killed, they shall be punished with due severity. Article 248 provides that if supervisors in prisons, detention centres and other places of detention subject the inmates to beatings, other forms of corporal punishment or ill-treatment, they shall, in serious cases, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, or criminal detention; if the circumstances are especially serious, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not