E/CN.4/1994/31 page 105 498. Regarding this case the Government replied that the allegations of ill-treatment were false. Mr. Txabarri had been examined by a forensic physician of the Figueras and La Bisbal Courts who certified that there were no marks of injuries. A second medical examination was carried out on 11 July 1993 by the forensic physician of the "Audiencia Nacional", the results of which were not known. No member of the Civil Guard had been charged in connection with the said allegations. 499. The Government also provided the Special Rapporteur with information about article 520 and other articles of the Criminal Procedure Act, designed to protect the rights of detainees. Only in the cases of organized crime was the judge allowed, at the request of the police, to extend the duration of detention to a maximum of five days and to order that the detainee be kept incommunicado. Even in these cases, however, the detainee was not deprived of legal assistance and was entitled to daily medical examinations. It was mentioned that complaints of torture or ill-treatment were commonly filed by members of the ETA terrorist group as a strategy to undermine the reputation of the Forces of Order. In addition to this, the Government provided a list of 30 officials convicted of torture in trials held since the beginning of the 1980s. Sri Lanka Information transmitted to the Government 500. By letter dated 3 November 1993 the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received reports according to which prisoners still continue to be tortured and ill-treated in both military and police custody, despite positive measures taken by the Government since 1992 in order to improve the human rights situation in the country. These measures include, for instance, the issuance of circulars by the security forces on arrest and detention procedures intended to avoid abuses, as well as the establishment of the Human Rights Task Force, a body entrusted with monitoring the observance of the fundamental rights of detainees. 501. However, special legal provisions which differ from normal criminal procedure are still in force and can be applied to prisoners detained under the Emergency Regulations or the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Thus, prisoners held under the PTA need not be brought before a judicial authority for 90 days, and under the Emergency Regulations prisoners can be held for 30 days before a magistrate sees them. Also, confessions made before a police officer of the rank of assistant superintendent of police or above are admissible in court under the Emergency Regulations, unlike under normal criminal law, which requires confessions to be made before a magistrate in order to protect prisoners from confessing under duress. Furthermore, under these provisions prisoners need not be held in publicly known places of detention and officials of various ranks are empowered to decide where detainees can be held, without any requirement that they make these places publicly known. According to the sources, all these elements facilitate the practice of torture.