allowed to speak to each other. She received the first visit by a member of her family on 30 October 1976. Shortly afterwards, on 3 November 1976, she was transferred to the prison of Punta de Rieles where she was kept together with eleven other female prisoners in a cell designed for four prisoners only. Even female prisoners were forced to perform hard work in the fields suitable only for men. She stated that she was charged on 15 October 1976 with "assisting a subversive associa­ tion", that in April 1977 the prosecutor asked for a sentence of 32 months, that one year later, in April 1978, a judge pronounced a sentence of 24 months, tak­ ing into account the time of her detention, and ordered her release, but that nevertheless her detention con­ tinued under the "prompt security measures" until she was released early in 1979. community. Only someone w h o is completely ignorant of the facts or is acting in obvious bad faith can conceivably accuse Uruguay of violating articles 7 and 10 (1) of the Covenant and article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Detainees are not subjected to any kind of torture or physical coercion in any detention establish­ ment. The Government of Uruguay trusts that the foregoing explanations will provide a sufficient basis for the Committee, on this occasion, to reject once and for all the communication under consideration, which is merely another instance of the campaign of defamation conducted against our country with the intention of discrediting its image abroad; none the less, it remains at the disposal of the Committee for any further clarification it may require. 9. Meanwhile, one of the alleged victims, Beatriz Weismann de Lanza, after arriving in Sweden, had sub­ mitted a communication (received on 28 February 1979 and first registered as No. 48/1979) on behalf of the other alleged victim, her husband Alcides Lanza Per­ domo, containing further and detailed particulars about his case. In a further letter (of 30 April 1979) including a detailed statement of her own case, she requested to be regarded as co-sponsor and co-author of the present communication, and that her own communication (No. 48/1979) be regarded as part thereof and added thereto as further information. 10. The Committee decided to regard the informa­ tion referred to in paragraph 9 above as relating to the present communication as requested by the author and therefore to discontinue its consideration of com­ munication No. 48/1979 as a separate communication. This information was transmitted to the Government on 18 September 1979, as noted in the Government's sub­ mission dated 8 October 1979 (see para. 8 above). By a further letter dated 28 September 1979, Beatriz Weismann informed the Committee that her husband had been expelled from Uruguay and that he obtained political asylum in Sweden on 2 July 1979. She stated, inter alia, that her husband had been kept in different military quarters and prisons, held incom­ municado for nine months and subjected to torture, such as electric shocks, hanging by his hands, immer­ sion of his head in dirty water, near to asphyxia, sub­ marino seco. She stated that her husband suffered from several serious health problems (hypertension, perma­ nent trembling in his right arm and sometimes in his whole body and loss of memory due to brain damage) due to the treatment he was subjected to. He was tried on 21 September 1976 and sentenced to three years' im­ prisonment by a military court, and she claimed that he continued to be kept in detention in spite of having served his sentence. With regard to herself she described in detail her experience from the date of her arrest of 17 February 1976 until her release and departure from Uruguay in 1979. She said that after her arrest she was first detained in the barracks of unit No. 13 of the Armed Forces, called "El infierno" by prisoners. Almost constantly kept blindfolded and with her hands tied, she allegedly was subjected to various forms of tor­ ture, such as caballete, submarino seco, picana and plantón, which she describes in detail. On 29 July 1976, she was transferred to the barracks of the 6th Cavalry Unit where she was kept in a dirty cell in miserable hygienic conditions and without adequate clothes to protect her against the cold, still blindfolded most of the time. She stated that in those barracks the preliminary investigation took place on 26 August 1976. When she complained to the military judge about the torture which she had been subjected to, he advised her not to pursue her denunciation which could not be proven because otherwise she would probably end up again in "El infierno". On 25 September 1976 she was trans­ ferred to the barracks of Infantry Unit No. 1 on Camino Maldonado where she was at first confined to an in­ dividual cell measuring 2 by 1.5 m. During the day, prisoners were forced to remain seated without being 11. In response to further inquiries from the Com­ mittee, Beatriz Weismann and Alcides Lanza, in a letter dated 15 February 1980, submitted the following addi­ tional information and observations: (a) They stated that they had no legal assistance prior to their trial, at which time they were afforded the possibihty to choose either a private lawyer or an of­ ficially appointed lawyer for their defence. Beatriz Weismann stated that she opted for a private lawyer, but that she never saw him, was never able to com­ municate with him and that she was never informed of her rights, possible remedies or recourses. Alcides Lanza stated that he opted for an officially appointed lawyer and that Dr. Antonio Seluja, whom he saw on that occasion, but was never able to speak with, was assigned as his defence lawyer. Alcides Lanza further stated that his defence counsel was later succeeded by Dr. Pereda and Dr. Juan Barbé, neither of whom he could ever communicate with. As they had no contact with lawyers, they were unable to appeal because they did not know what their rights were and had no one to assist them in exercising them. (¿7) Beatriz Weismann was kept in detention until 11 February 1979, although her release had been ordered on 14 April 1978, at which time she was requested to place her signature on the release order. Alcides Lanza, having served his sentence on 2 February 1979, was nevertheless kept detained at various places of detention (the names of the places of detention are specified), un­ til he was released on 1 July 1979. (c) They confirmed, as true, the information previously submitted with regard to their treatment 47