E/CN.4/1993/26 page 25 sometimes in the mouth, soles of the feet and genitals; the use of lighted cigarettes to inflict burns; the use of dogs to bite detainees; the use of manacles and chains to restrain prisoners for long periods; the practice of making people stand outside for several days at a time, sometimes on blocks of ice, and of making prisoners kneel on the point of triangular pieces of wood. 78. Convicted prisoners are sometimes tortured or severely ill-treated as a punishment for alleged breaches of prison discipline. However, torture and mistreatment most often occur when detainees are held for a few weeks or months without trial and then released, and prior to the laying of formal charges. In these cases torture is an adjunct to the intensive interrogation process and is reportedly carried out by Public Security Bureau (PSB) or People's Armed Police (PAP) officers. 79. Detainees are questioned for several hours at a stretch, up to three or four times a day, sometimes in the middle of the night. The interrogation usually takes place in a room with one or two chairs and a table. The detainee is sometimes made to strip naked and sit on the floor. While one person takes notes, one or more interrogators alternate between questioning and beating the prisoner. Until the questioning is completed detainees are normally held incommunicado without access to legal counsel and isolated from family and friends. On the other hand, there are reportedly no effective official channels through which a detainee or a relative can make a complaint. 80. On 28 October 1992 the Government of China sent the following comments which, at its request, are reproduced below in their entirety: "1. Resolutely opposing and prohibiting all forms of torture has consistently been the Chinese Government's basic position. China has long conscientiously banned torture, effectively guaranteed its citizens' right to life and ensured that their individual dignity is not subject to unlawful encroachments. Its policy has always been that where there is a law it can and must be adhered to, and breaches must be investigated; it adheres to the principle that all citizens are equal before the law, and treats with the utmost seriousness the incessant refinement of its legislation and the incorporation of its ban on torture into the legal system. 2. The Chinese Constitution and relevant legislation lay down provisions for the prohibition of torture both in principle and in substance: no citizen may be arrested without the approval of or an order from a people's procuratorate or an order from a people's court, or by anyone other than the public security authorities; unlawful taking into custody and unlawful encroachment or limitation on citizens' right to life by other means are prohibited; citizens' human dignity is inviolable. Libelling, slandering, bringing false charges against or framing citizens in any manner is prohibited. The Chinese Penal Code lays down corresponding penalties for torture: that is, for the crimes of extracting confessions by torture, unlawfully taking into custody, unlawfully placing under surveillance, illegally conducting searches, libel and slander, inflicting corporal punishment on or ill-treating prisoners, unlawfully encroaching on citizens' freedom of religious belief or violating the customs and traditions of ethnic minorities, and