transit zones had the right to appeal their detention, as provided for under article 9, paragraph 4, of the Covenant. 409, In his reply, the representative said that a bill had been reintroduced before the legislature expressly to abolish the death penalty/ except for the most serious military crimes in time of war. k law was also being drafted to adopt the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant and the Sixth Protocol to the European Convention on Human Eights. The use of firearms was governed by law, with absolute necessity being the basic principle governing any use of firearms, A bill had been introduced in June 1991 to coordinate the functions of the various police forces and to reform existing laws by providing uniform regulations on the use of force and firearms. A bill proposing reforms in the Protection of Young Persons Act of 1965 had been drawn up including a measure restricting the application of the Act to minors over 14 years of age charged with a crime punishable by one year's imprisonment and providing for a hearing by a judge for such minors. A new law on the protection of the mentally ill made it impossible for a person to be hospitalized or held for observation without a court order. The new Act on pretrial detention of 1990 guaranteed the individual's basic rights while at the same time improving the administration of justice. The minimum sentence for crimes warranting pretrial detention had been raised from six months to one year's imprisonment, but there was no definite time-limit for pretrial detention. Guarantees of individual rights had also been improved through such measures as the introduction of a more rigorous definition of conditions of arrest and more detailed arrest and interrogation records, providing free access to a lawyer and according the right to a public hearing after six months of detention. About 60 claims a year involving compensation for wrongful detention were brought before the Minister of Justice, about half of which were granted. A detainee could, at his own initiative, contact his family in writing or by telephone immediately following arrest, unless he was held incommunicado, in which case he could have immediate access to a lawyer. There had been no complaints of torture during the reporting period, although some complaints of ill-treatment had been made about maximum security prisons and solitary confinement. Such practices might be defensible on the grounds that restrictive measures had to be taken where circumstances and prudence so reguired and that dangerous prisoners had to be kept separate from others. That matter was currently before a court of appeal. A detainee could lodge complaints about mistreatment to the authorities of the penitentiary system, the Minister of Justice and courts with summary jurisdiction. A monitoring committee would be making periodic visits to prisons after ratification by Belgium of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which were available in French and Dutch to all persons within the penitentiary system, were generally respected. 410, The rules governing the conditions of preventive detention had recently been changed. In general terms, the grounds for detention were reviewed within five days of detention. Detainees could lodge an appeal at each phase of their detention and had the right to reguest a lawyer. The affiliation of doctors who performed medical examinations of detainees hafl been criticized and corrective steps were being taken. Relevant information concerning organ transplants from aborted foetuses would be made available to the Committee at a later date.