For several years, I have been engaged in a dialogue with officials of the central government regarding detainees and their treatment. Late last year, I began receiving reports from authoritative sources in Beijing that a decision had been made at the highest levels to 'fundamentally reform' the system known as 're-education through labour'. Recently, officials have told me that legislation replacing re-education through labour (RTL) committees with minor offences or misdemeanour courts will be considered by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress later this year. Those brought before these courts will benefit from the presumption of innocence, the right to a lawyer and other due process rights - all missing from the current system. I understand that the minimum sentence for RTL is one year and it must be served in an RTL camp. Under the legislation being drafted, minor offenders can be sentenced to terms of less than one year and some offenders need not serve sentences in detention facilities. Officials close to the RTL reform say that other types of administrative detention managed by the Public Security Ministry - custody and education, forced drug rehabilitation and legal education - will be brought into the system of misdemeanour courts, either next year or not long afterwards. Some of the impetus for these moves lies in China's commitment to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it signed in 1998. RTL and all the other forms of detention other than administrative detention as defined in the Criminal Law (maximum 15 days) clearly violate the covenant's fair-trial provisions, and they will eventually be abolished. I and others involved in a human rights dialogue have been told by foreign affairs and judiciary officials that RTL does not apply to Hong Kong residents. Some of us have been given the text of the ministry's 'Regulations on the handling of re-education through labour cases by public security organs', which came into force on June 1, 2002. Article 12 says foreigners, stateless persons, overseas Chinese, Taiwan residents and residents of Hong Kong and Macau cannot be sentenced to RTL. In the last week, I read several statements, some in your newspaper, by officers of the Dongguan Public Security Bureau, mainland-based lawyers and scholars, and journalists in Hong Kong that Hong Kong resident Alex Ho Wai-to was sentenced to six months of RTL. Some have asserted that Hong Kong people can, in fact, be sentenced to RTL. These statements appeared in the international media. I would appreciate a Hong Kong minister, in consultation with the central government, confirming that Hong Kong residents: cannot be sentenced to RTL; can be sentenced to six months to two years of 'custody and education', a form of administrative detention used to sanction prostitutes and their clients that is distinct from RTL. I hope the Hong Kong government can also confirm that Mr Ho is, in fact, serving a sentence of 'custody and education', not RTL. JOHN KAMM, the Dui Hua Foundation, San Francisco HK's Olympic future Hong Kong is being used as a back door for Chinese athletes gaining entry to the Olympic Games. Although this is advantageous for the mainland's second-string competitors, it puts Hong Kong athletes at a disadvantage. This was anticipated before the handover and now unfortunately it is coming true. The future of Hong Kong sports development has been assured. BRETT WHITE, Happy Valley Judgments on ICAC I refer to the article 'Overruling a lawful action' (August 21), by Raymond Sears, concerning the decisions on the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Mr Sears said, 'Mr Justice Hartmann, acting on precisely the same information as Mr Justice Stone, decided that the warrants should not have been issued'. This is apparently incorrect. In Mr Justice Hartmann's August 10 judgment, he has reviewed and considered a substantial number of English authorities, which were not made available to Mr Justice Stone. This was clearly stated in Mr Justice Hartmann's judgment. He also went on to state in paragraph 70 that if Mr Justice Stone had been made aware of those authorities, it is most unlikely he would have made the orders. The issue of jurisdiction on the part of Mr Justice Hartmann to set aside the order of Mr Justice Stone was considered at length in his judgment. The point raised by Mr Sears, that a judge has no jurisdiction to set aside a warrant which was issued and executed, was in fact advanced before Mr Justice Hartmann, but he did not find this argument convincing after reviewing the relevant authorities. It is not unusual for the court to lay down 'principles' as judicial guidelines on the implementation of legislation as the court interprets it, after hearing submissions from counsel and after considering factors such as the intent of the legislation and the interpretation of similar legislations by other courts. The principles should be regarded as important and valuable judicial guidelines for reference by future courts and should not be interpreted as judicial direction to the parties of the proceedings as to how they should run their own business. KEITH HO, Central Mr Ho is the solicitor handling Sing Tao's challenge to the issuing of search warrants to the ICAC. Paedophile website? It was alarming to note that an Australian, Peter Colin Bower, has been convicted in Hong Kong of having child pornography ('Suspended jail term for possessing child porn', August 18). This evil has been exported to poor countries by Australian paedophiles - teachers, businessmen and diplomats. Among them, William Stuart Brown, was jailed in Bali for sodomising boys for less than a dollar. It was revealed, to no great surprise, that Brown who worked for AusAid as second secretary, preyed on children in Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere. Apart from him, we remember monster Robert 'Dolly' Dunn, who abused children in Lombok. Australian paedophiles have become a scourge in Asia - Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. In a well-publicised case, Bart Lauwaert and 'English teacher' Clint Rex Betteridge were convicted in Cambodia, but child rapist Betteridge escaped with a new passport from the Australian embassy. We also know of John Arthur Lee, who, upon his return from Cambodia, became the first man convicted in Australia for sex crimes overseas. And there is David Leonard Arthur, 47, a convicted offender in Queensland, who was arrested in Chiang Mai. Should Hong Kong start a website such as the one in Australia operated by Movement Against Kindred Offenders ( www.mako.org.au )? I hope Hong Kong police or the judiciary will take the lead and open a register of convicted sex offenders online. Sentences so far appear lenient and will encourage these monsters. Turning a blind eye could help this evil triumph. KAPILA BANDARA, Sha Tin Setting up a trap The political motive behind John S. Sloan's letter headlined 'Sex set-up is easy' (August 20) is clear. If there is any truth in what he said, the company, which specialises in setting up prostitution, is obviously committing crimes. He should have reported it to the police for investigation. After all, Mr Sloan apparently has no intention of remaining anonymous. Furthermore, we are talking about the prevention of crimes here. NG HON-WAH, Pokfulam Jail compensation If completed, the superjail will erode the living environment on Lantau. As the government will reap a reward from the redevelopment of existing urban jail sites, will it therefore compensate property investments in the new prison areas such as Discovery Bay? NAME, ADDRESS SUPPLIED