E/CN.4/1989/15 page 22 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 101. On 28 July 1988, a l e t t e r was addressed to the Government of the United Kingdom transmitting information alleging t h a t Brian Hunter and Thomas Maguire were arrested on 12 August 1987 and taken t o Castlereagh police s t a t i o n (Northern I r e l a n d ) , where they were slapped, h i t , punched and subjected to verbal t h r e a t s during interrogation. Furthermore, Arthur Forbes was arrested on 14 January 1988 in Londonderry and taken t o Strand Road Royal Ulster Constabulary s t a t i o n , where he was allegedly h i t on the head and slapped in the face. In addition, i t was reported t h a t Brian Gillen, who was arrested on 22 January 1988 was slapped on the back of his head, h i t in the stomach and on the l e f t ear during interrogation a t Castlereagh interrogation c e n t r e . As a consequence of the i l l - t r e a t m e n t received, Messrs. Maguire, Forbes and Gillen had reportedly suffered from a perforated ear-drum. 102. On 19 October 1988, another l e t t e r was addressed t o the Government of the United Kingdom transmitting information alleging t h a t male Vietnamese refugees had been subjected t o i l l - t r e a t m e n t on 19 July 1988 in the Hei Ling Chau Detention Centre, Hong Kong. From there they were reportedly a l l transferred to Lai Chi Kok prison in Kowloon, where they were again subjected to i l l - t r e a t m e n t before being confined three t o a c e l l . 103. On 17 November 1988, the Government of the United Kingdom replied that an independent inquiry had been conducted into the a l l e g a t i o n s concerning the Vietnamese boat people, which had concluded t h a t , as a r e s u l t of the considerable pressure under which the staff of the Correctional Services Department of the Hong Kong Government was operating a t the time of the incident, unnecessary force had been used by some Correctional Services Department s t a f f . The Hong Kong Government was currently examining the operational procedures of the Correctional Services Department and considering whether d i s c i p l i n a r y action should be taken against the staff involved. 104. On 29 November 1988, the Government of the United Kingdom transmitted a reply concerning the a l l e g a t i o n s contained in the Special Rapporteur's l e t t e r of 28 July 1988. All complaints of alleged i l l - t r e a t m e n t of t e r r o r i s t suspects by the security forces in Northern Ireland were fully investigated by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and/or the Army and prosecutions were ordered where appropriate. In the case of Brian Hunter and Thomas Maguire, i t was not possible to comment further on the a l l e g a t i o n s u n t i l the outcome of the RUC investigations was known. In the case of Arthur Forbes and Brian Gillen, the papers on both cases had been forwarded t o the independent Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for consideration. The DPP had directed t h a t there should be no prosecution in respect of the a l l e g a t i o n s made by both. The Independent Commission for Police Complaints would consider whether there was a case for d i s c i p l i n a r y action against any of the police officers concerned, after the outcome of the c i v i l claims which Mr. Forbes and Mr. Gillen had instigated against the RUC was known.