E/CN.4/1997/4/Add.2 page 6 as cases involving merely common crimes when they may, in fact, be of a political nature. This manner of applying the Public Offence Act seems to have become widespread in recent months in the western Nepalese province of Rolpa, where the guerilla base mentioned above is located. 28. Habeas corpus and states of emergency. While the Working Group was pleased to note, as emphasized by the Human Rights Committee (CCPR/C/74/Add.2, para. 11), that under the Constitution of Nepal habeas corpus is not derogable under any circumstances, several sources indicated that it was very difficult in practice to secure the protection or release of a person by habeas corpus when the Public Offence Act was applied. 29. Military courts. Significant changes would have to be made in the functioning of the military courts to make them compatible with the rules concerning the right to a fair trial provided for in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is abnormal, in the Working Group's view, that these emergency courts should: (a) Be composed only of military personnel; (b) Be able to try civilians who have committed offences against military personnel, whereas their jurisdiction should be confined strictly to offences under the military regulations committed solely by members of the armed forces; (c) Be able to try offences committed by military personnel when the victims are civilians; (d) Allow only for the military police to conduct investigations; and, in particular, (e) Conduct their proceedings in camera as a rule, when sitting as courts martial, an aggravating circumstance being that the presence of counsel is not even authorized in such cases. 30. Forensic investigations. The Working Group was concerned by the fact that investigators are more often than not unable to obtain forensic expertise, especially in the provinces, even though proof of guilt in some cases may depend on it. The Working Group observed, for example, that in the absence of such expertise, heavy sentences appear to have been pronounced for infanticide in cases probably, not to say obviously, involving abortion which, although punishable by law, none the less carries much lighter penalties. 31. Overcrowding in prisons for procedural reasons. The Working Group also found that continued pre-trial detention beyond the statutory period, often for excessive periods of time, causes overcrowding in some prisons, under conditions that fall well short of the principles set forth in the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Other main causes of overcrowding are that a sentenced person unable to pay a fine may be kept in detention, and that no provision is made in the legislation for judges to impose suspended prison sentences.