E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.5 page 21 17. The Government informed that no information could be found at present. 18. Sitaram Bhandari, aged 35, Gopal, Kathmandu. On 1 August 2005, he was arrested by seven RNA personnel in plain clothes, held on the floor of an unmarked jeep, questioned about Maoist activities, and taken to Chhauni (Jagadal) barracks. His head was covered with a hood of a rubber material and laced in the front, which made it difficult to breathe. He was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and taken to an office in the one-storey main office building. In the adjoining corner office, 3 other men and 11 women were also detained. He was tortured during most of his detention. During the first nine days, he was tortured twice a day for 2½-hour sessions, in the morning and in the afternoon. He was hung by a stick behind his knees and above his elbows. Electric wires were wound around his ears and he was given electric shocks for 5-10 minutes until he lost consciousness. He was revived with food and the treatment was resumed. He was ordered to urinate on a heating element and was struck by the hot spray, and he was forced to put his hand in a hot water tank. He was given one minute to go to the toilet located about five doors down from the interrogation room (approximately 30 m away). He was also forced to roll on a floor covered in nettles. Four to five army personnel perpetrated the torture, and a military doctor applied ointment to his hands from time to time. He remained in the same room for nine days, and then was put in the adjacent room for three days where he received food. Thereafter daily torture sessions were reduced to 30 minutes, and involved soldiers stepping on his outstretched legs and beating him on his body, shins and the soles of his feet with plastic pipes and batons. During this period he was forced to sign a statement. On 12 August 2005, he was brought to the Central Jail. He had received a visit from his brother-in-law two days prior to the Special Rapporteur’s visit. 19. The Government informed that no information could be found at present. 20. Birandra Tamang (or Bira Tamang), a 26-year-old farmer, Nanglebhare VDC, Kathmandu district. On 15 July 2005, he was arrested on suspicion of being a Maoist in a shop near his house by around 30 RNA personnel, half of whom were wearing RNA uniforms and the other half in plain clothes. He was taken on foot for two hours to the RNA Jhor Singh Pawa barracks (near Saku). There he was handcuffed and blindfolded, taken to a tent, forced to sit on a bed and interrogated about his alleged involvement in Maoist activities. He was kicked with boots and beaten with sticks in the morning and in the afternoon for sessions lasting between 1 and 1½ hours for a period of seven days. Thereafter he was taken to the Singha Durbar barracks, where he was questioned further for two hours, then blindfolded and taken to the Central Jail on 21 July 2005. He never saw a CDO, though he received a TADO detention order for six months. 21. The Government informed that no information could be found at present. 22. Bhalsingh Rai, a 48-year-old farmer, Rakha Bangdel VDC, Khotang district. On 5 June 2005, he was arrested by 18 RNA personnel at his home on suspicion of involvement in Maoist activities. He was blindfolded when he arrived at the outpost of the RNA Okhaldhunga district barracks. He was kept in a bamboo shelter, where he was kicked with boots and beaten with sticks. He was forced to lie on the floor and was trampled on all over his body for almost one hour. He was then taken to another room, where he was handcuffed and given some food. On the second day he was beaten again, blindfolded and handcuffed for the