E/CN.4/2001/66 page 95 470. Concerning Shaaban Mohamed Abdel-Gawad (ibid., para. 371), the Government indicated that he had been summoned to the Nawa police post (attached to the Shibin al-Qanatir police station) in connection with a murder investigation. During the interview, he fainted and was taken to Shibin al-Qanatir General Hospital, but died. The Office of the Public Prosecutor decided to call in a forensic doctor to carry out an autopsy, which concluded that the cause of the death was a sharp drop in blood pressure as a result of previous pathological trauma. There was no evidence to substantiate allegations that he was tortured while in police custody. 471. Concerning Mohamed Saeed Mohamed (ibid., para. 366), Sayid Abdalla Soliman (ibid., para. 367), Mostafa Gad al-Karim Mostafa (ibid., para. 368), Mhamoud Sami Mohamed, his wife Rabha Ibrahim, Nagwa Fadl Tawfeek and Shaaban Sami al-Rayis (ibid., para. 369), Zenhum Mohamed Badr, Ibrahim Mohamed Badr and Fouda Mohamed Badr, (ibid., para. 370), the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that there was no evidence to substantiate that they were tortured while in police custody. The Government provided information on the charges pending against each of the above-named persons. 472. By letter dated 8 March 2000, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that a judge had approved the prosecution’s decision to refer a lieutenant-colonel and five officers of the Wadi Natroun prison to the Shibin al-Kom Criminal Court on the charge of beating a prisoner awaiting trial, Ahmad Muhammad Muhammad Isa, to death and forging official documents in February 2000. The Government gave details about the prosecution’s investigation which led to this decision. The accused remain in custody pending trial. 473. By letter dated 31 October 2000, the Government indicated that the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is a branch of the judiciary. Its members are irremovable and no one may interfere with their work. All forms of torture are classified as serious offences for which the law prescribes severe penalties. The DPP is legally required to investigate all complaints of torture whenever they are filed. Such action must be taken by a member of the DPP whose rank is not lower than that of solicitor-general. Complaints of torture are investigated by the DPP as felonies or serious crimes. All appropriate measures are therefore taken when such a case is investigated. Any confession obtained through torture is invalidated and compensation must be provided to the victim. The defence of torture is the most widespread defence invoked before the DPP and the courts by defendants trying to have the charges against them dropped or seeking acquittal. The courts must therefore determine the soundness and reliability of this defence. Observations 474. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the diligence with which the Government has sought responses from the relevant authorities on the cases he has submitted in the past. He is extremely troubled, however, by the persistence of the explanation of death in many of the cases as being a “sharp drop in blood pressure”, sometimes also of respiration. Professional medical expertise consulted by the Special Rapporteur confirms the Special Rapporteur’s suspicion that such symptoms rarely happen spontaneously. They are provoked by prior factors such as trauma and malnourishment. Given that many of the allegations in question concerned alleged medical neglect or severe ill-treatment, the information supplied by the Government, far from alleviating the Special Rapporteur’s concerns, tends to reinforce them. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur notes that there is a tendency in the replies to indicate that the unavailability of continuing