E/CN.4/2000/9 page 133 law. He nevertheless regrets that, pursuant to the defence of necessity under Israeli Law (there is no such defence against torture or similar ill-treatment under international law), the Court felt that such techniques could avoid attracting criminal responsibility in certain extreme cases. He is pleased, however, that he has learned of no cases of interrogation in which the security services resorted to the techniques since the decision was handed down. He sincerely hopes that draft legislation introduced in the Knesset aimed at formally authorizing coercive techniques of interrogation will be vigorously opposed by the Government and not become law. He also remains concerned at the continuation of torture and ill-treatment of persons detained in southern Lebanon under the de facto control of Israel. Japan Regular communications and replies received 676. By letter dated 29 November 1999, the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received information on the following cases. 677. Uchiyama Kazuo was reportedly detained in Chiba Prison on 17 August 1993. He was reportedly taken to an interrogation room on 30 August for a disciplinary lecture after allegedly angering a guard by approaching him in an informal manner. In the room, he was allegedly told to stand in a formal, upright position while guards disciplined him. One guard allegedly forcibly straightened two of his fingers which he could not straighten as he had diabetes, causing both men to lose balance and fall over. After this occurred, 10 other guards reportedly arrived who proceeded to kick and punch him and twist his arms behind his back. He was later forcibly taken to a "protection cell" where he had his clothes ripped off and was put in mataware pants with a slit cut in the seat for defecation. In the cell, he was reportedly forced to lay face down on the floor while he was allegedly restrained with a leather belt and metal handcuffs and kicked repeatedly until he fell down. He has reportedly initiated legal proceedings in relation to his treatment in prison at the Chiba District Court. However, the Court has reportedly ordered that the practice of putting prisoners in a "protection cell" is inadmissible in its examination of his case, following a government objection. 678. Hiura Yoshitaka was reportedly incarcerated in the Yokohama Prison in 1991. He was reportedly placed in a single cell one year later, allegedly for a minor offence, and held there until February 1994. When he reportedly attempted to make a formal complaint against his treatment, he was allegedly subjected to a violent assault by prison guards and then taken to a "protection cell", where he was allegedly forced, face down, on the floor, bound and with leather handcuffs and stood on by a prison officer, causing him to bite his tongue and bleed from his mouth. The guard reportedly put him in an extra pair of handcuffs and then left him in this position in the "protection cell" for four days. According to the information received, he has brought an action against the prison authorities at the Tokyo District Court. 679. Zhou Bi Zhu, a Chinese woman who was pregnant at the time, was reportedly arrested on 3 March 1997 and incarcerated in the Tokyo Detention House on 2 April 1997. Three days after her arrival at the prison, she reportedly complained to a prison guard of a strong pain in her abdomen and that half of her body felt as if it was paralysed. The guard reportedly replied that as it was Sunday, there were no doctors available, and that she would have to wait