E/CN.4/1996/35/Add.1 page 66 officers allegedly beat and kicked him severely for 8 to 10 minutes until the television crew members pulled him away and brought him to the Red Cross for treatment of the injuries he suffered. 352. Hendrique Belmiro da Costa, reportedly detained during the November 1994 demonstration and held by the military intelligence unit (Satuan Tugas Intelijen-SGI) of the Subregional Military Command for East Timor in the Colmera district of Dili, was allegedly tortured. He required stitches to his head as a result. 353. By the same letter the Special Rapporteur reminded the Government of a number of cases transmitted in 1994 regarding which no reply had been received. Urgent appeals sent and replies received 354. The Special Rapporteur transmitted five urgent appeals on behalf of the persons in the cases described below. The date on which the appeals were sent appears in brackets at the end of each summary. 355. José Antonio Belo, one of 24 East Timorese youths reportedly detained during a demonstration at the University of East Timor in Dili on 9 January 1995, was allegedly beaten along with another demonstrator by plain-clothes officers of the security forces before being driven away. It was feared that he might be subjected to further ill-treatment or torture during detention and that other persons arrested at the demonstration were at similar risk (11 January 1995). 356. On 16 January 1995 the Government replied that neither José Antonio Belo nor the other 24 demonstrators had been detained, but that they had been taken to the police office only for questioning and had left the office on the same day. Before, during and after questioning they were never beaten, tortured or ill-treated. (A subsequent report received from the source of the allegation alleges that José Antonio Belo was in fact tortured and beaten by security officers to the point of losing consciousness. He was allegedly tied up and hung upside down overnight and then beaten with sticks, wires or rifle butts. He was sentenced by the Dili District Court on 8 May 1995 to 18 months’ imprisonment on charges of "expressing hostility to the Government".) 357. Soniman Lafau (also spelled "Lafao" or "Lanfau"), Deputy Chairman of the Medan branch of the SBSI trade union, was reportedly detained in Medan on 7 February 1995 and was being held in the "KORAMIL" (Military District Command) in Medan. He had allegedly been tortured during a previous detention (8 February 1995). 358. Antonio Miguel Escurial Soares and Ricky Valmero were among 15 persons reportedly arrested by police and military forces in Dili. Some of these persons were said to have been detained in connection with attempts to set up vigilante groups to counter attacks by the so-called Ninja gangs. Antonio Miguel Escurial Soares was reportedly arrested in the village of Santa Cruz in Dili by the SGI on 18 January 1995 and subsequently was