A/HRC/13/39/Add.4 However, the Special Rapporteur received allegations that, at times, even more persons – sometimes up to several hundred - were detained in the courtyard. 34. Whereas in theory the courtyard wing was reserved for illegal immigrants, several citizens of Equatorial Guinea were held there as well. According to consistent reports, Equatoguinean detainees were at the top of the internal hierarchy, occasionally beating the others and applying discriminatory practices against foreigners. The police did not intervene in cases of inter-prisoner violence or to protect the women even when requested to do so. 35. Although, according to the police, the three small cells (each of about 8 square meters) were reserved for Equatoguinean citizens, the Special Rapporteur found that many among the detainees were foreigners. Conditions in the three cells were in clear violation of international minimum standards. There were no beds or mattresses. The middle cell was severely overcrowded, so that prisoners had to take turns to lay down on the floor and rest. The detainees were confined to their cells for 24 hours and were not allowed to leave the cell to shower, bath or even use the toilet. The toilet opposite the cell was unusable and emitted an unbearable smell. B. Acts of torture and ill-treatment in places of detention Prisons 36. The Special Rapporteur received consistent allegations that corporal punishment continued to be routinely applied by prison guards in front of other prisoners in Bata and Black Beach prisons as a punishment for having committed disciplinary offenses or for unknown reasons. In both places, prisoners were tied to a pillar or face down to a bench in the courtyard and received a number of strikes with a police truncheon or high voltage cables on their buttocks and other parts of their body, often with several guards or soldiers taking turns. On a positive note, the Special Rapporteur welcomes that corporal punishment seemed not to have been applied any more for the last several months at Evinayong Prison under the new prison director. 37. The Special Rapporteur wishes to stress that corporal punishment is absolutely forbidden under international law, including the United Nations Convention against Torture.5 Police custody 38. The Special Rapporteur found that torture is systematically used by the police forces against persons who refuse to “cooperate” – persons suspected of political crimes as well as suspects of common crimes in particular at the Central Police Stations in Bata and Malabo. The gendarmerie appeared to practice torture to a lesser extent. The Special Rapporteur was unable to verify allegations against the military because he was denied access to military detention facilities. 39. Types of abuse reported to him, and corroborated by expert medical analysis and evidence found in the respective police stations, include: beatings on various parts of the body, but often on the soles of the feet and/or the buttocks with police batons, solid “rubberized” cables and wooden bars; electric shocks with starter cables attached to different parts of the body with alligator clips; various forms of suspension with hands and feet tied together, including the so-called “Ethiopian style” for prolonged periods. In these 5 12 See for example the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture , UN Doc. A/60/316.