E/CN.4/1996/35/Add.1 page 146 784. On 31 October the Special Rapporteur sent an appeal on behalf of Sarah Balabagan, a national of the Philippines, who was convicted of murder on 15 September 1994 and sentenced to death. According to the information received, an appeal court in Al-Ain quashed her death sentence on 30 October 1995 and sentenced her to a one-year term of imprisonment and a flogging of 100 lashes. United Republic of Tanzania Urgent appeals transmitted 785. The Special Rapporteur, in conjunction with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, sent an urgent appeal on 6 July 1995, concerning the situation of a number of refugees from Burundi and Rwanda. Since April 1995, Tanzanian authorities had allegedly ill-treated and forced approximately 300 refugees, including children and elderly persons, to leave Mugoma and enter Burundi. The refugees had then reportedly been attacked by Burundian soldiers, armed with knives and machetes. Three to six refugees had died as a result. In the first week of June 1995, several hundred refugees were reported to have been returned to Burundi from Tanzania. Several refugees were allegedly beaten by Tanzanian soldiers and a number of women were raped. In addition, soldiers allegedly fired on a group of about 250 Rwandan refugees who were trying to cross the border into Tanzania. United States of America Information transmitted to the Government and replies received 786. By letter dated 26 June 1995 the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received information indicating that a police practice of placing suspects face-down in restraints, usually while hogtied, had resulted in a substantial number of injuries and deaths in police custody in the country. Such practices, exercised in a number of jurisdictions, were said to restrict respiratory movement and occasionally to lead to death from "positional asphyxia". The risk of death was said to be exacerbated when the restrained person was in an agitated state or under the influence of drugs. 787. In connection with the practices described above, the Special Rapporteur transmitted the individual cases summarized in the following paragraphs. 788. Michael Bryant was reportedly arrested following a car chase in Los Angeles in March 1993. Although unarmed, he was allegedly shot twice with a so-called taser gun, hit with batons, hogtied and placed face-down on his stomach in a police car. Police procedures in force at the time had stipulated that hogtied suspects should be placed on their side and not face-down. In the previous five years, at least seven other persons in Los Angeles county were reported to have died in police custody in which hogtying was found to be the cause of death or a contributory factor. Despite these considerations, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) reportedly found no fault in the officer’s action.