E/CN.4/2004/56 page 7 23. The circumstances that lead to the dispatch of urgent appeals are diverse and manifold. They include: incommunicado detention; prolonged solitary confinement; detention at an undisclosed location; lack of essential medical care or treatment; inhuman prison conditions; forced administration of drugs; corporal punishment and other forms of imminent cruel and inhuman punishment; imminent execution following a death sentence imposed on the basis of a confession extracted under torture; serious threats to the life and physical integrity of an alleged torture victim or a third person; continued risk of being subjected to a variety of torture methods and practices; and a serious risk of extradition or deportation to a State where the person may be in danger of being subjected to torture. 24. Approximately two thirds of the urgent appeals signed by the Special Rapporteur are sent jointly with other thematic or geographic mandate holders. The most frequent co-signers are the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The Special Rapporteur has also acted on a considerable number of urgent cases together with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and with specific country special rapporteurs. In a limited number of appeals, the Special Rapporteur has acted jointly with the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women, the human rights of migrants, the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the right to health, adequate housing, and the right to education. 25. As stated above, during the period under review, the Special Rapporteur sent a total of 369 urgent appeals. This figure was, respectively, 294, 147 and 164 in the last three reports. The increase in the number of urgent appeals sent under the mandate on torture and other forms of ill-treatment is even more evident in the light of the number of such communications in earlier years: between 1994 and 1999, an average of approximately 50 urgent appeals were sent per year. 26. It is the Special Rapporteur’s opinion that to enhance the effectiveness and impact of the urgent appeal procedure, coherent and regular follow-up is necessary. In this connection, a more systematic use of deadlines and reminders is envisaged, if available resources and means permit. The Special Rapporteur regrets that many Governments fail to respond to urgent appeals or respond solely to some selected appeals. The Special Rapporteur does not have the means to verify these answers, although in some cases they can be corroborated and contrasted with information received from other sources. III. GUARANTEES FOR INDIVIDUALS DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY 27. Since his appointment, the Special Rapporteur has received information according to which basic guarantees against abuses of the human person are frequently set aside. The denial of these safeguards may fall - or may lead to situations which fall - within the scope of the mandate against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.