E/CN.4/1994/31 page 36 (v) Xu Wenli is serving a sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment at Beijing No. 1 prison. He is alleged to have spent 11 years of his sentence in solitary confinement and to have at times been subjected to punishments. In 1986 he was allegedly confined in a windowless cell opening through a trap door in the ceiling, with reduced food rations and no visits, mail or reading matter. According to the reports, official sources have confirmed in recent years that he was still in solitary confinement. According to the Government, Xu Wenli was released on parole on 26 May 1993. During his internment in Beijing No. 1 prison the prison authorities arranged for him, at his own request, to occupy a comparatively roomy cell so that he could study more easily. He did normal recreational and sporting activities with the other convicts. There is an essential distinction between this and solitary confinement. (w) Yao Guisheng, a worker in Changsha, was arrested in Zhuzhou after June 1989 and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. During his stay at Hunan Provincial No. 6 prison in Longxi he is reported to have become mentally ill as a result of repeated ill-treatment. He was periodically put in solitary confinement, frequently beaten and made to wear shackles. According to the Government, while in prison Yao Guisheng was given 10 days’ confinement as punishment for fighting, brawling and serious breaches of the prison regulations, but he has never undergone beatings, verbal abuse or corporal punishment. (x) Zhang Xudong, a worker and director of Changsha lift factory, was reportedly arrested in 1989 and taken to the Changsha No. 1 detention centre, where he was made to wear handcuffs and leg irons for nearly a year. According to the Government, the investigation of Zhang Xudong’s circumstances is pending. (y) Zhang Ruiyu, a 54 year-old teacher at the Physical Education Academy in Xianyu county, Fujian province and a member of the New Testament church, was severely beaten by a group of officers from the local Public Security bureau who burst into her house on 31 May 1990. Reportedly, her face was burned with electric batons and she was beaten to the extent that her teeth were broken. According to the Government, Zhang Ruiyu was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in November 1991 for involvement in illegal activities and breach of the criminal law. During her incarceration she has never been subjected to beatings, verbal abuse or corporal punishment. (z) Zhou Min was reportedly arrested in June 1989 in Changsha and taken to Changsha No. 1 detention centre where he was repeatedly ill-treated and beaten with electric batons. In June 1990 he was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment and transferred to Hunan Provincial No. 1 prison in Yuanjiang. (aa) Protestant on several Tilanqiao, one of her Zhu Mei, aged 73, a retired primary school teacher and member of a house-church in Shanghai, is reported to have been severely beaten occasions while serving a sentence of five years’ imprisonment at Shanghai municipality’s main prison. As a result of the beatings knees was broken in 1991.