E/CN.4/2000/9 page 36 into society, as well as of treaties negotiated by the Government with third countries allowing the transfer of foreign prisoners to their State of origin. The Ministry of Justice has also launched a project called "Collective action for penal execution", which establishes prison visits by public defenders charged with assisting poor detainees. In relation to improving health conditions in prisons, the Government indicated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice had jointly created a commission to plan a comprehensive programme of prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases among detainees. Bulgaria Urgent appeals and replies received 158. On 22 March 1999, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal on behalf of Borislav Goutzanov, who had reportedly been detained at the Varna pre-trial detention centre since 19 January 1999. He was said to be detained in an unheated cell, to have to sleep on the floor and to be suffering from pneumonia. He was reportedly denied medical treatment. Burundi Regular communications and replies received 159. By letter dated 3 September 1999, the Special Rapporteur was informed that torture and ill-treatment are still widespread, particularly in police stations, for the purpose of extracting confessions. The methods used included beatings on the soles of the feet, genitals, knees and elbows with electric cables, truncheons and other objects; electric shock; scalding with boiling water; uncomfortable or humiliating positions and death threats, sometimes with mock executions. No investigation has ever been made of such allegations, and the courts reportedly accept confessions obtained through torture. The Security Police and the Special Investigation Brigade are allegedly at the root of many cases of torture, yet governmental, judicial and police authorities refuse to admit that such cases occur. 160. The Special Rapporteur has also received information on inhuman and degrading detention conditions. The main problem appears to be overcrowding: some prisons such as those at Ngozi, Gitega and Mpimba reportedly house three to five times the number of detainees envisaged. More than 200 individuals allegedly died from January to April 1998 at Ngozi prison in the north as a result of malnutrition, overcrowding and lack of hygiene. Communicable diseases are very common. No means of subsistence are provided to the detainees. Many of them need medical care. Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Ntako, accused of taking part in a coup against President Buyoya, allegedly died in Muyinga prison around 11 May 1997 for lack of medical care. 161. Finally, the Special Rapporteur has been informed that rape is regularly practiced by members of the military. No steps to prevent such acts or to remedy their effects have been taken. 162. The Special Rapporteur has likewise received information on the following cases.