E/CN.4/1995/34 page 22 receive inadequate food and medical attention and to be subjected to strenuous forced labour and to various forms of physical abuse. Violation of prison regulations allegedly were frequently met with severe punishment, such as the shackling of the prisoner’s hands behind the back. Many prisoners were reported to be ill or malnourished. 93. Labour conditions at Hanyang were also reported be be extremely harsh. Newly arrived persons detained for political reasons were said to be kicked and beaten by overseers for minor mistakes in their work. In the eighth brigade, where prisoners produce polythene products, prisoners allegedly were forced to stand amongst toxic gases and dust, their hands protected only by rubber gloves, and turn plastic products over a 180° flame. The prisoners, many of whose hands were said to be covered with blisters, reportedly worked more than eight hours a day and often at night in extreme temperatures. 94. The Special Rapporteur also transmitted the individual cases summarized in the following paragraphs and on 4 November 1994 the Government sent replies in respect of some of those cases. 95. Shi Hanlin, who was seriously ill before his imprisonment, was allegedly subjected to long working hours in the Hanyang prison factory and was beaten severely. He was said to have collapsed on a workbench and to suffer from oedema, but was denied medical treatment. Prison authorities reportedly contended that he was feigning illness to avoid working. 96. The Government replied that Shi Hanlin had completed his sentence and been released, having suffered no torture or mistreatment in prison. 97. Sun Sanbao, Jiang Pinchao, Lin Zhiyong, Feng Haiguang, and Lu Xiangwen were reportedly ill-treated in August 1991 as a result of activities in protest at working conditions and treatment of prisoners at Hanyang. On 20 August, Sun Sanbao, despite being seriously ill, was forced to work as a machine operator, allegedly as a reprisal for protesting against the mistreatment of prisoner Lu Xiangwen. The following day, Sun Sanbao was reportedly put in solitary confinement for "resisting reform through labour". Jiang Pinchao and Lin Zhiyong, refusing to work in protest against the treatment of Sun Sanbao, were allegedly beaten on the back and legs with police whips and electric batons for four hours and then forced to stand with their arms raised against a wall for three hours. After collapsing, they were allegedly dragged by the hands along the ground, causing Jiang Pinchao’s toenails to split, were shackled and placed in solitary confinement in a cage. On 22 August, Feng Haiguang, after protesting to the guard overseeing his work, was allegedly beaten for eight hours, causing his legs to swell, making it impossible to walk or sit up straight. He was thereafter put in solitary confinement and subjected to further beatings with whips and electric batons, resulting in over 30 separate wounds. After the incidents, the five prisoners were reportedly locked for three months in cold "punishment cells", kept malnourished, periodically tortured and ordered to perform hard labour, which included carrying at least 10,000 bricks each day. 98. The Government replied that Jiang Pinchao, Lin Zhiyon, and Feng Haiguang had completed their sentences and been released, having suffered no torture or mistreatment in prison. As to Sun Sunbao, while serving his sentence he