Article 7 Prohibition of Torture Torture 21. In October 2019, there was an incident in which prison guards at Kaohsiung Prison abused a prisoner named Chen severely enough to result in his death. The Control Yuan conducted an investigation on its own initiative and found that the prison guards, together with other prisoners serving as “attendants,” kicked and hit Chen. As a result of the beating, he was badly injured and died of his multiple injuries later, after being neglected and then receiving delayed medical treatment. Kaohisung Prison should have immediately conducted an indepth investigation into the case, ex officio, but failed to do so. The Agency of Corrections also failed to keep up with the situation in a timely manner. Both the prison and Agency of Corrections should be considered as being derelict in their supervision and management. On August 24, 2020 Taiwan Kaohsiung District Court sentenced the two prison guards and four accomplices to terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 years and 6 months to 3 years and 10 months for the death of the prisoner. The Agency of Corrections also strengthened its training and promotion of human rights under the two Covenants to prevent torture, pursuant to the Control Yuan’s investigation findings. 22. In the last 10 years, at least 12 cases of inmate suicide have taken place in Taiwan’s Green Island Prison. The prison was also accused of actions constituting abuse and torture, such as the illegal use of police weapons, use of physical restraints, confining prisoners to solitary cells, implementation of disciplinary punishments, beating prisoners, and the use of electric shock to control inmates. The Control Yuan investigation found that Green Island Prison had been using physical restraints on inmates for long period of time. After investigation and listing for continued oversight by the Control Yuan, the situation has begun to improve, and the Ministry of Justice acknowledged the need to continue strengthening its prison supervision. 23. Prolonged confinement to solitary cells can cause inmates to suffer severe mental stress. Several international human rights organizations believe that under special conditions, confining prisoners to solitary cells may constitute “cruel or inhuman treatment” as referred to in Article 7 of the ICCPR. Therefore, these organizations demand that each country should make their best efforts to avoid confining prisoners to solitary cells. Notwithstanding, in women’s prisons where fewer prisoners are held, sometimes it is inevitable that inmates are confined to solitary cells, and in a few cases this has led to solitary confinement for several months. This could cause physical and mental harm to female inmates, and could even constitute discrimination. There was even a case of a prisoner being held in a solitary cell for 14 years. Upon investigation and subsequent follow-up by the Control Yuan, Paragraph 4 of Article 4 of the Detention Act and Paragraph 5 of Article 6 of the Prison Act 13