E/CN.4/1994/31 page 34 of self-examination in isolation for having seriously breached prison regulations, but has never undergone beatings, verbal abuse or corporal punishment. (l) Lu Decheng, a worker for the Liuyang branch of the Hunan provincial bus company, was convicted of "counter-revolutionary" offences in August 1989 and sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment. He reportedly was subjected to severe ill-treatment from the time of his arrest. Following his trial he was transferred to the Hunan Provincial No. 3 Prison at Lingling, where he was reportedly kept in solitary confinement in particularly harsh conditions for a period of six months. According to the Government, Lu Decheng was sentenced by the Beijing Municipal People’s Intermediate Court to 16 years’ imprisonment for involvement in illegal activities injurious to the strengthening of the State and is being held in Hunan Province No. 2 prison. He has never undergone beatings, verbal abuse or corporal punishment. (m) Ma Zhiqiang, a worker from Shanghai, was arrested on 15 June 1989 for attempting to form an independent trade union and taken to the Nanshiqu detention centre (Kanshousuo) where he was repeatedly beaten and kept handcuffed with his arms behind his back with tight manacles which caused his hands to swell. According to the Government, Ma Zhiqiang was sentenced by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Intermediate Court to five years’ imprisonment for involvement in illegal activities injurious to State security. He is currently serving sentence in Shanghai municipal prison. He has never undergone beatings, verbal abuse or corporal punishment. (n) Ngawang Yankyi, a nun from Tsamkhung nunnery in Lhasa, was arrested on 21 August for taking part in a slogan-shouting demonstration and taken to Drapchi Central Prison in Lhasa. She was said to have been severely ill-treated and tortured and had to be taken to the Lhasa people’s hospital. According to the Government, the investigation of Ngawang Yankyi’s circumstances is pending. (o) Ning Wang and Wenhua Zhu, prisoners at Tianjin No. 1 prison, Tianjin. Since 1989 they are reported to have been frequently beaten, given shocks with electric batons, restrained in tight punishment handcuffs and kept for long periods in solitary confinement. At the time of their detention Ning Wang served as chairman of the Tianjin Workers Autonomous Federation and Wenhua Zhu was a member of the Standing Committee of the same organization. According to the Government, Wang Ning was sentenced by the Tianlü Municipal People’s Intermediate Court to eight years’ imprisonment for involvement in illegal activities injurious to State security; Zhu Wenhua, to five years’ imprisonment. Both are currently interned in Tianlü municipal prison. Neither in prison nor during the investigations has either undergone any kind of corporal punishment, beatings or abuse. (p) Sin Jin, a journalist and former head of the Shanxi bureau of the Hainan Economic Newspaper, was taken into police custody in Hai Kou, on Hainan island, in July 1989. He was subsequently transferred to other detention centres, among them the Taiyuan city Public Security Bureau, where he is reported to have been severely beaten and put in irons weighing more than 50 kilograms, causing him temporary paralysis. According to the Government, the investigation of Jin Sin’s circumstances is pending.