E/CN.4/1995/34 page 112 and fears were expressed that the flogging might be imminent. The Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he shared the views of other bodies in the United Nations system that corporal punishment was inconsistent with prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment enshrined in various international instruments. Republic of Korea Information transmitted to the Government 587. By letter dated 29 March 1994 the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received information according to which persons arrested for political reasons were often subjected to several forms of ill-treatment, including sleep deprivation, in order to extract "confessions". Under procedures in force, police or security officials often without an arrest warrant may take a suspect for "voluntary submission into police custody" and must obtain a court warrant within 48 hours for continued detention. This provision allegedly often was abused by police and other security agencies to detain suspects by force and hold them incommunicado for 48 hours’ interrogation without informing their families and friends that they had been arrested. Detainees were allegedly subjected to the greatest abuse during the first hours of interrogation and confessions thus obtained were often used as grounds upon which to apply for an arrest warrant. 588. There is reportedly no legal requirement for prisoners to be brought promptly before a judge. Suspects held under the National Security Law may be interrogated for up to 50 days before they are charged, including up to 20 days by the arresting agency and a further 30 days by the prosecution. During this long period prisoners were sometimes allegedly subjected to prolonged and exhausting interrogation and denied immediate and regular access to their lawyers and families. 589. Prisoners who claimed to have been tortured or ill-treated were said rarely to make a formal complaint and in only a few cases had successful prosecutions been carried out. Prisoners who had been ill-treated during interrogation were sometimes afraid to make a statement to this effect in court for fear of antagonizing the tribunal and thereby incurring a heavier prison sentence. Furthermore, it was said to be extremely difficult for a prisoner to prove ill-treatment, particularly when the form of such treatment was sleep deprivation, which leaves no visible trace on the body. Finally, there was said to be no independent body to investigate complaints of human rights violations. The Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has the authority to decide whether or not a prosecution would take place, often appeared not to act on complaints, dismissing them without further explanation on the grounds that they had been investigated and proved to be unfounded. 590. The Special Rapporteur also communicated to the Government the individual cases described in the following paragraphs. 591. Lee Kun-hee, a Democratic Party worker, was arrested without a warrant on 26 September 1992 by officials of the Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP). He was taken for questioning to the ANSP interrogation facility and was allegedly deprived of sleep for the first few days and repeatedly beaten.