E/CN.4/2000/9 page 9 auditory difficulties, as certified in a medical report of which the Special Rapporteur has a copy. 17. The families of the disappeared persons were allegedly beaten, illtreated and threated by the police while attempting to hold a peaceful demonstration on 31 March 1999 in front of the National Observatory for Human Rights. 18. Mohamed Boukhlaf was allegedly arrested in August 1998, together with his wife, daughter and ten-year-old nephew. He was reportedly tortured at the Bab Djedid police station in Algiers. He is said to have been raped and some of his teeth forcibly extracted. His relatives were reportedly released 11 days later. He was allegedly charged with having contacts with armed groups. He is reportedly still under arrest and his complaints of ill-treatment have never been investigated. 19. The Government stated that because of the lack of significant details in the allegations outlined above, an investigation could not be expedited. With regard to the families of the detainees, it advised the Special Rapporteur that the organization of demonstrations in Algiers and elsewhere is addressed specifically in legislation and regulations which, inter alia, require that authorization be requested and prohibit the participation of minors. Angola Regular communications and replies received 20. By letter dated 3 September 1999, the Special Rapporteur informed the Government that he had received information on the cases described below. By letter dated 10 September 1999, the Government advised the Special Rapporteur that it had duly noted the allegations mentioned but could provide no information as long as the legal proceedings, which were confidential, were in progress. It likewise assured the Special Rapporteur that according to article 36 of the Constitution, no one may be punished for any act other than one expressly prohibited by law. 21. Dr. Adriano Pariera, former Permanent Representative of Angola to the United Nations at Geneva and head of the opposition party Partido Angolano Independente, was allegedly arrested on 4 November 1998 in Luanda for misappropriation of public funds. He is said to have been taken into custody a few days after criticising the Government on national television and to have been seated on a small, unstable chair during his interrogation by the National Criminal Investigation Branch the night following his arrest. He was reportedly then kept in solitary confinement for five months and deprived of the treatment required by his state of health, which is now allegedly critical. 22. António Mavungo was allegedly beaten to death in March 1998 officer in Cacongo, Cabinda province, after a dispute over a water was reportedly hit in the head with the butt of a police revolver. police chief allegedly ordered the arrest of the officers, but the been carried out. by a police source. He The Cacongo order has not 23. Antonio Manuel was allegedly arrested by the police in May 1998 near Caculama and stabbed in the back to spell out the word "UNITA".