E/CN.4/1996/35/Add.1 page 148 795. Similarly, at the Special Housing Unit (SHU) of Pelican Bay prison in California, prisoners were reportedly confined, either alone or with one other prisoner, for 22½ hours per day in sealed, windowless cells with bare white concrete walls. The cell doors were made of heavy-gauge perforated metal which, according to a federal district court, "blocks vision and light". A substantial number of prisoners in SHU were said to be suffering from mental illness, which had been caused or exacerbated by their confinement in the Unit. In recent litigation, the federal district court concluded that conditions there "may press the outer bounds of what most humans can psychologically tolerate". A large number of prisoners were said to be assigned to the Unit indefinitely. 796. On 21 November 1995 the Government sent a reply regarding the general concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur. The Constitution and laws of the United States and those of its constituent states prohibited torture and any form of cruel and unusual punishment; the Constitution protected every individual’s right to bodily integrity and security of person, including the right to be free from excessively forceful arrest; and the law of the United States and of its constituent states provided numerous judicial, administrative and other remedies and avenues of recourse for indviduals who claimed that, in the course of their arrest or detention, law enforcement officials had inflicted torture or cruel and inuman treatment or punishment. The reply went on to discuss and analyse particular legal standards and practices applicable to issues concerning segregation and solitary confinement, use of excessive force by prison guards, use of excessive force by police officers, as well as of criminal and civil remedies available to alleged victims. 797. The Special Rapporteur’s request for information with respect to the individual cases raised would be conveyed to the attorneys-general of the states concerned with a recommendation to the state authorities to provide a more detailed response. Uzbekistan Urgent appeals sent 798. On 26 September 1995 the Special Rapporteur transmitted an urgent appeal on behalf of Nadira Khidoiatova and Asia Turaniyazova, who were reportedly arrested on or around 11 July 1995, detained at the premises of the National Security Service and charged with violating a provision of the Customs Code concerning the export of animal skins. Nadira Khidoiatova, who was three months’ pregnant and Asia Turaniyazova, who was in her fifth or sixth month of pregnancy, were both allegedly forced against their wills to undergo abortions while in detention. Although each woman was told independently by medical prison personnel that the abortions were required for medical reasons, neither was given the ultrasound examination that would be necessary to establish the condition of the foetuses. It was alleged that the actual reason the abortions were ordered was to prevent the women from being released from custody pending trial, as required under law with respect to pregnant women. It was further alleged that Nadira Khidoiatova had been threatened that if she did not give formal consent to the abortion, she would be taken out of the hospital and have it performed anyway and "in worse conditions". An official