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the United Kingdom and that could well be the reason why no mention had been made of it in the report. He would nevertheless appreciate some further information on that point.
22. On the subject of immigration, paragraph 75 stated that interview rules and other procedures were reviewed regularly. However, at least one non-governmental organization had indicated to the Committee that it was concerned at the way decisions on refugee status were taken in the United Kingdom. In two specific instances, one involving nationals of Zaire and the other nationals of Sri Lanka, persons had been returned to their country of origin when there had been a real threat that they might be subjected to cruel or inhuman treatment or even torture. In the case of the Sri Lankans, an internal review had concluded that they did in fact qualify for refugee status, but the decision to return them had been taken before the review had been completed. Could the United Kingdom delegation tell the Committee how such reviews were actually carried out and how much education was given to immigration officers regarding the United Kingdom's obligations under the Convention? Was the Government making any real attempt to ensure that immigration officers were made aware of those obligations?
23.
In connection with article 12, paragraph 77 stated that, in England and Wales, anyone who alleged that he had been the subject of torture could go to the police with a complaint. It then added, somewhat laconically, that "broadly comparable" provision and practice existed in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Could the United Kingdom delegation provide statistics on how many such complaints had been made and whether they had been successful? Were such statistics readily available and were they published, for example, in the annual Home Office Report? Unfortunately, where investigations into complaints were carried out by the police themselves, it was difficult to ensure impartiality even in the most civilized societies and, in a situation such as that of Northern Ireland, that problem was greatly exacerbated.
24.
Information supplied to the Committee by the Howard League for Penal Reform showed that, whereas in 1980 there had been 21 suicides among persona in detention, in 1990 there had been 51, an increase of 100 per cent in a decade. He took it that those figures referred to England and Wales. The League had suggested that the suicidal tendencies shown by persons incarcerated were often not taken seriously and that detention in strip cells would have the effect of exacerbating such tendencies. Were those statistics in fact accurate and, if so, were they a source of concern to the Home Office?
25. He complimented the United Kingdom representatives on the very full account given of the conditions governing detention under mental health legislation, although he had been alarmed to read in paragraph 87 that electro-convulsive therapy could still be administered, either with the patient's consent or with a second medical opinion.
26.
As far as article 14 was concerned, the report indicated that the United Kingdom had probably the best compensation system anywhere in the world, taking into account the combined effect of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the powers of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. The Government was to be commended on introducing that system so early and on