UNITED NATIONS E Distr. Economic and Social GENERAL Council E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1 20 December 1996 ENGLISH Original: ENGLISH/FRENCH SPANISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Fifty-third session Item 8 (a) of the provisional agenda QUESTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS SUBJECTED TO ANY FORM OF DETENTION OR IMPRISONMENT, IN PARTICULAR: TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Nigel S. Rodley, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/37 Addendum Summary of cases transmitted to Governments and replies received CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Albania ......................... 1 4 Armenia ......................... 2 ­ 4 4 Austria ......................... 5 ­ 8 4 Azerbaijan ....................... 9 5 Bahrain ......................... 10 ­ 16 5 Bangladesh ....................... 17 ­ 19 7 Bolivia ......................... 20 8 Bulgaria ........................ 21 ­ 41 9 Burundi ......................... 42 13 Cambodia ........................ 43 13 Cameroon ........................ 44 14 Canada ......................... 45 ­ 47 14 Chad .......................... 48 15 Chile .......................... 49 ­ 69 15 China .......................... 70 ­ 85 18 GE.96­14494 (E) E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1 page 2 CONTENTS (continued) Paragraphs Page Colombia ........................ 86 ­ 105 20 Congo .......................... 106 23 Côte d'Ivoire ...................... 107 23 Cuba .......................... 108 ­ 113 24 Cyprus ......................... 114 25 Ecuador ......................... 115 ­ 117 25 Egypt .......................... 118 ­ 143 26 El Salvador ....................... 144 30 Equatorial Guinea .................... 145 ­ 152 30 Ethiopia ........................ 153 ­ 156 31 France ......................... 157 ­ 167 32 Germany ......................... 168 ­ 171 34 Greece ......................... 172 ­ 173 35 Guatemala ........................ 174 ­ 181 36 Republic of Guinea ................... 182 37 Honduras ........................ 183 ­ 188 38 Hungary ......................... 189 ­ 192 39 India .......................... 193 ­ 208 40 Indonesia ........................ 209 ­ 241 44 Iran (Islamic Republic of) ............... 242 ­ 246 50 Israel ......................... 247 ­ 274 51 Italy .......................... 275 ­ 284 56 Jamaica ......................... 285 58 Jordan ......................... 286 59 Kazakstan ........................ 287 ­ 288 59 Kenya .......................... 289 ­ 307 60 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ................. 308 64 Mexico ......................... 309 ­ 333 64 Morocco ......................... 334 ­ 335 69 Myanmar ......................... 336 ­ 344 70 Nepal .......................... 345 ­ 347 72 Nigeria ......................... 348 ­ 351 73 Pakistan ........................ 352 ­ 373 74 Paraguay ........................ 374 77 Peru .......................... 375 ­ 387 77 Philippines ....................... 388 ­ 391 79 Poland ......................... 392 ­ 393 80 Portugal ........................ 394 ­ 399 81 Republic of Korea .................... 400 ­ 404 82 Romania ......................... 405 ­ 416 83 Russian Federation ................... 417 ­ 433 84 Saudia Arabia ...................... 434 ­ 438 88 Senegal ......................... 439 ­ 445 90 Slovak Republic ..................... 446 91 Spain .......................... 447 ­ 453 91 Sudan .......................... 454 ­ 472 92 Sweden ......................... 473 96 Switzerland ....................... 474 ­ 476 96 Syrian Arab Republic .................. 477 97 E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1 page 3 CONTENTS (continued) Paragraphs Page Tunisia ......................... 478 ­ 487 97 Turkey ......................... 488 ­ 528 99 Turkmenistan ...................... 529 ­ 531 109 Uganda ......................... 532 109 United Arab Emirates .................. 533 109 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .. 534 ­ 538 109 United Republic of Tanzania ............... 539 ­ 542 111 Uzbekistan ....................... 543 ­ 544 112 Venezuela ........................ 545 ­ 564 113 Viet Nam ........................ 565 ­ 566 116 Yugoslavia ....................... 567 ­ 571 117 Zaire .......................... 572 ­ 579 118 Zambia ......................... 580 119 Other communications: Information transmitted to the Palestinian Authority .. 581 ­ 586 119 E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1 page 4 Albania 1. On 29 May 1996, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal on behalf of the members and supporters of opposition political parties, who had allegedly been arrested that same month in several towns of the country during the electoral campaign. Some of the detainees were said to have been beaten and to have received other ill­treatment while they were in police stations. Armenia 2. By letter dated 12 June 1996 the Special Rapporteur communicated the individual cases summarized in the paragraphs below. Mikael Manukian, Armen Momojan and Arsen Artsruni, charged in connection with alleged membership of a clandestine armed group known as "DRO" within the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation party were allegedly beaten and otherwise ill-treated for the purpose of coercing confessions during pre-trial detention at the premises of the Ministry of Security in Yerevan. Rafael Safarian and Zhora Khachatrian were among several lawyers involved with the "DRO" case who were allegedly beaten severely by persons wearing military uniforms who were either public officials or were acting at the instigation of such officials. 3. Nineteen devotees of the Hare Krishna religious organization, including four women and four children, were reportedly beaten, some with iron bars, on 18 April 1995 at the group's premises in Yerevan by 20 to 25 men, some of whom were wearing military fatigues. The beatings were reportedly ordered by the Ministry of Defence because it had mistakenly believed that the Hare Krishna religion obliged devotees to refuse military service. 4. Razmik Grigorian, aged 62, was reportedly arrested on 8 May 1995 in connection with a murder. He was taken to the police station in Kamo where he was severely beaten, and he subsequently died. The results of a forensic autopsy and investigation were not revealed by the authorities. Austria 5. By letter dated 11 June 1996 the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received information on two cases of torture or ill­treatment. The Government replied to those cases on 11 September 1996 and transmitted a copy of a decree issued by the Austrian Ministry of Justice on 15 September 1989 concerning procedures for the prompt and impartial investigation of allegations of torture or ill-treatment by police or security officials. The cases sent and the Government's reply are summarized below. 6. Wolfgang Purtscheller, a journalist who had reported extensively on rightist extremism in Austria, observed two plainclothes police officers detaining an African asylum-seeker at the Ernst-Kirchweger House on 22 September 1994 and asked the officers for their service numbers and whether they had a warrant for the arrest. Ten uniformed officers subsequently approached him. After an officer recognized the journalist and revealed his identity, another officer reportedly struck him in the face. He was then placed under arrest and reportedly knocked unconscious by another blow. He regained consciousness while lying in his own vomit. It was alleged that an officer stood on his head, another on his buttocks and a third twisted E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1 page 5 his right ankle forcefully, causing him again to lose consciousness. He was hospitalized with bruises of the face, abrasions of both wrists and damaged knee ligaments. He filed two criminal complaints and a complaint with the Vienna Independent Administrative Tribunal. The Government replied that on 20 June 1996, the Vienna Public Prosecutor requested the investigating judge at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court to question the police officers as suspects. However, it was not possible to close the criminal proceedings because it had not been possible to determine the whereabouts of Wolfgang Purtscheller, who was needed as a witness in the case. 7. Emad Faltas, an Egyptian national, was allegedly assaulted by four members of the Vienna Drugs Squad on 21 June 1995, after he had been observed with a suspected drugs dealer. A medical examination carried out after his release revealed three broken ribs and cuts and bruises to his arms, stomach and face and he was hospitalized for seven days. The Government replied that the Vienna Federal Police Directorate had filed a criminal information against three detective officers. The officers were indicted on charges of causing grievous bodily harm, but were later acquitted by the Regional Criminal Court of Vienna. The Vienna Public Prosecutor's Officer entered an appeal against the judgement. Information received from the Government with respect to a case included in last year's report 8. In its letter of 11 September 1996, the Government also replied to the case of asylum-seeker Naser Palushi, which the Special Rapporteur had transmitted on 29 May 1995 (E/CN.4/1996/35/Add.1, para. 43). The Government stated that criminal proceedings had been instituted against four police officers of the Vienna Federal Police Directorate. Forensic evidence revealed that Naser Palushi had suffered multiple but slight injuries, but it had not been possible to prove with the certainty required in criminal proceedings that the injuries had been caused by the officers. The