E/CN.4/1996/35/Add.1 page 38 coerced through torture to make incriminating statements. Although a Human Rights Unit was established in November 1993 within the Public Procurator’s Office to investigate reports of torture, the Unit was said to have failed to make public any information on the conduct of any investigations that it had undertaken. Few complaints submitted to the Human Rights Unit by human rights organizations or lawyers had reportedly been investigated. 183. The Special Rapporteur transmitted a number of individual cases involving persons detained for political reasons, which are summarized in the following paragraphs. A letter of reply from the Government was received too late for inclusion in this report. 184. Ramadhan Mahmoud Ahmed, a lawyer, was reportedly arrested on 6 July 1994 by officers of the Abu Za’abal Industrial Prison, where he had gone to see a client. At the Abu Za’abal branch of the SSI, he was allegedly tortured by means of beatings, suspension and electric shocks applied to various parts of his body. He was released on 9 July 1994. 185. Three detainees arrested in November 1993 in connection with the attempted assassination of the Prime Minister, ’Atef Sidqi, were allegedly tortured by SSI officers. Sayyid Salah al-Sayyid Sulayman was punched repeatedly and suspended in contorted positions. Tariq ’Abd al-Nabi Hassan al-Fahal was beaten and subjected to electric shocks on various parts of his body, sustaining injuries to his nose and jaw. Tuhami Ahmed ’Abdallah Ahmed Shalabi was subjected to beatings and electric shocks to various parts of his body, including his genitals, and he sustained injuries around one eye and to his left leg and right arm. Forensic examinations were said to have revealed injuries consistent with torture on all three persons. Sayyid Alah al-Sayyid Sulayman and Tariq ’Abd al-Nabi Hassan al-Fahal were sentenced to death in Cairo by the Supreme Military Court on 17 March and executed on 3 May 1994. 186. Safwat Ahmed ’Abd al-Ghani, Ahmed ’Abdu Salim, Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Shu’aib, Hassan al-Gharbawi Shahhata, ’Adli ’Abd al-Latif and Mursi Mohammad Mursi were allegedly beaten repeatedly by high security prison officers in February 1994. They had gone on hunger strike for at least 15 days to protest their treatment and a ban on visits by family members and lawyers in effect since 20 December 1993. 187. The Special Rapporteur also notified the Government that he had received information according to which detainees at police stations throughout Egypt were frequently subjected to torture or ill-treatment. The methods of torture reported included beatings with leather straps, sticks and electric cables; suspension in various positions accompanied by heavy beatings; beatings with solid objects and application of electric shocks. During pre-trial detention many suspects are allegedly forced to sign police records without knowing their contents. The practice of such torture was said to be facilitated by the following factors: that the Code of Criminal Procedure does not guarantee an arrested person the right to seek legal assistance in the stages of identification and during investigations carried out by police station officers; that under the Emergency Law in effect since 1981 the Ministry of the Interior is granted full powers to carry out administrative arrests without judicial or prosecutorial interference; and that under recent legal amendments, police may detain a suspect for up to 11 days without charge or