E/CN.4/1994/31 page 11 26. With respect to this case the Government indicated on 15 November 1993 that following his arrest on 27 October 1992 Nadir Hammoudi had been brought before the Government Procurator’s Office in Algiers on 7 November 1992 and charged under the Act to combat subversion and terrorism. The National Human Rights Observation Centre (ONDH) had approached the authorities concerned and Mr. Hammoudi himself on a number of occasions in order to obtain accurate information on the situation concerning his arrest and custody. ONDH had yet to receive a reply. Moreover, neither the parents of the defendant nor his lawyers had filed any complaint requesting a judicial investigation or an expert medical opinion. 27. Mohamed Yassine Simozrag was allegedly arrested at his home in Algiers on 23 July 1993 and held incommunicado for more than 20 days. His family and lawyer were able to visit him in Al-Harrach prison on 18 August and saw that he had contusions. He reportedly stated that he had been tortured by the "rag method", which involved tying the victim to a chair and trying to choke him with a rag soaked in dirty water and chemicals. 28. On 15 November 1993 the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that Mohamed Yassine Simozrag was arrested on 28 July 1993 in the company of a terrorist wanted for his involvement in several attacks. On the expiry of the legal period of custody, he had been brought before the Government Procurator’s Office in Algiers and then had had a detention warrant issued against him after being charged in the context of the Act for the repression of terrorism and subversion. Two lawyers had been appointed to represent and defend Mr. Simozrag, who had received regular visits from them. 29. Following allegations of ill-treatment of the defendant during his custody, ONDH made a number of representations to the legal authorities concerned. One of the lawyers, on being contacted by ONDH, stated that no request for an expert medical opinion or a judicial investigation of ill-treatment during custody had been made; a visit to his client had enabled him to establish that the latter had not been physically harmed. 30. By the same letter of 15 November 1993 the Government indicated that its position on the question of torture had always been and continued to be a firm and unambiguous condemnation of this odious practice. This position was expressed, in particular, through Algeria’s accession, without any reservation whatever, to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 31. Despite being confronted with terrorist activities arising out of religious extremism, Algeria had continued its efforts to safeguard democracy and protect human rights within the context of internationally recognized human rights principles. Temporary restrictions on the exercise of certain freedoms had not, therefore, gone beyond the limits expressly laid down by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Algeria was a party. Moreover, abuses of any kind were controlled by machinery which provided the persons concerned and those who defended them with every opportunity to denounce such acts, which, should they be proved, were treated accordingly, with the perpetrators being punished. Allegations which the