E/CN.4/1995/34 page 83 435. Carmelo La Rosa had allegedly been beaten severely by prison guards at Gazzi prison and on the night of 24/25 June was found hanging in his cell. The Messina preliminary hearing judge had filed the case for the following reasons: at the time of the alleged suicide, the prison cell was occupied by only one other prisoner who had no reason to kill La Rosa; the medical officer had intervened immediately, having been called by the prison and so excluding the suspicion that penitentiary personnel had acted against La Rosa; and the forensic examination had concluded that La Rosa’s death was due to a suicide and that his body had fallen to the floor because the belt he used to hang himself broke. 436. In the case of Mazzara Biagio, who was reportedly beaten and burned with cigarettes by guards at Padua district prison in October 1992, a fight with the guards had broken out after he had punched a guard in the face while being transferred to the prison infirmary. He injured himself with a razor-blade that he was holding in his hand and later ingested voluntarily two similar razor-blades. Following judicial investigation pursuant to a request submitted by the Public Prosecutor, the Padua preliminary hearing judge ascertained that no crimes had been committed. 437. The Government also responded with respect to allegations concerning the treatment of persons in some of the country’s prisons. Some members of the Chamber of Deputies and delegates of the Chamber of Deputies’ Justice Commission in September-October 1992 inspected Asinara penitentiary in Sardinia and concluded that the prisoners had not suffered any ill-treatment. An inquiry into complaints by prisoners at Buoncammino penitentiary in Cagliari, Sardinia, undertaken by the Sardinia Regional Inspector of Penitentiary Administration pursuant to a December 1992 order by the Ministry of Justice, concluded that the grounds for complaint were due to general problems concerning the standard of living inside the penitentiary such as overcrowding and the poor condition of the building. 438. Complaints by prisoners at the Due Palazzi penitentiary in Padua, Venetia, regarding ill-treatment and poor sanitary conditions could not be verified by the Venetia Regional Inspector of Penitentiary Administration. However the allegations were under investigation by the local Public Prosecutor’s Office, which was endowed with the necessary power to carry out a judicial inquiry, and the procedure was continuing. 439. The magistrate responsible for Pianosa penitentiary in September 1992 expressed the suspicion that some cases of ill-treatment had taken place inside the prison and ascertained that the poor maintenance and overcrowding at the Agrippa branch could not assure a good standard of living. The Livorno Public Prosecutor’s Office was proceeding with further investigations to determine who was liable for the personal injuries of some prisoners. 440. The Parliamentary Committee for penitentiary problems of the Chamber of Deputies’ Justice Commission twice visited the Secondigliano penitentiary in Naples and expressed serious concern about general conditions and ill-treatment of prisoners. The Public Prosecutor’s Office, following investigations, requested the committal for trial of the inspector of the penitentiary and other penitentiary police officers for various crimes, including ill-treatment of prisoners. After judicial inquiry, the preliminary