to reduce crime and to safeguard the public through persuasion and education. It did not entail punishment, but was intended to restrain potential juvenile offenders, particularly in urban areas. Persons detained in reform-throughlabour camps were entitled to free medical attention. The standard of medical attention provided in such establishments was higher than the national average. The death rate in those camps was extremely low, moreover, and the staff were expressly prohibited from subjecting inmates to humiliation, ill-treatment or torture. In 1990 and 1991, a total of 21 agents of the State had been punished for such offences; no cases had been reported in 1992. 414. Administrative detention, also known as public security detention, was imposed by public security organs for minor offences. Offenders could be held for a period of up to 15 days and public security officials were strictly forbidden to beat, curse, humiliate or otherwise intimidate detainees. 415. There were no specific provisions covering counter-revolutionary and political offences and the concept of political crime did not exist in China. The crimes of counter-revolution referred to in the Penal Code were a category of criminal offences including all activities carried out with the specific intention of subverting State power or overthrowing the Government. The judicial bodies which tried such cases showed particular circumspection and the courts strictly abided by the principles and procedures laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Persons found guilty of counter-revolutionary crimes had been sentenced in strict conformity with articles 91 and 102 of the Penal Code, according to the gravity of the offences committed. 416. Replying to further questions, during investigation could not last the period during which proceedings Chinese law, families of defendants of detention, unless accessories to Persons who were arrested had to be time of arrest. the representative said that detention more than two months and correspondence to might or might not be instituted. Under were normally notified of the fact and place the alleged offence were still at large. informed of the nature of the charges at the 417. In reply to questions on articles 12 and 13 of the Convention, the representative of the State party provided detailed information on the number of complaints of torture filed from 1990 to 1992. Any persons found guilty of extorting a confession by torture or having subjected a prisoner to corporal punishment, ill-treatment, harassment or humiliation were liable to prison sentences varying according to the gravity of the offence and the extent of the ill-treatment and even to the death sentence in the most serious cases. Furthermore, if a case of torture was discovered, the Ministry responsible for supervising the civil authorities would take action, if necessary by initiating proceedings, even in the absence of a complaint. 418. Referring to article 14 of the Convention, the representative of the State party said that, if a death occurred following an act of torture, the perpetrator was brought before the people’s court. The perpetrator of such acts was required to compensate the victim or his surviving relatives; if he was not solvent, the production unit to which he belonged addressed a request to the finance department, which then compensated the victim. The Civil Code also included provisions for awarding compensation for mental suffering. 419. In reply to questions on article 15 of the Convention, the representative of the State party said that, in 1958, the Minister for Justice had prepared a 10-point list of principles to be observed, one of which prohibited obtaining confessions by torture. In 1983, a code of conduct for the legal and legislative professions had been published, reproducing and elaborating on the same principle. When China became a party to the Convention in 1988, the -66-