E/CN.4/1991/17 page 14 units without finding any testimony or documentary evidence concerning the arrest and torture of Mr. Agredo Jimenez. The Prosecutor's Office therefore did not institute a formal administrative investigation, since there was no proof of the facts complained of. With regard of the cases of Rodolfo Hernandez and Efrain Gomez, it was reported that officials of the Administrative Security Department (DAS) visited Mr. Gomez in the Bucaramanga Model Prison and asked him and Mr. Rodolfo Hernandez whether they had been subjected to ill-treatment; the two prisoners replied that they had not been ill treated by the soldiers while they were in the BR-5 facilities. Subsequently, when efforts were made to obtain a written record of their statement, they refused to give it to DAS. 45. On 20 March 1990, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent message to the Government of Colombia concerning the following trade union members: Hector Castro, Toribio Bohorquez, Simon Duque, Henry Hurtado Guerrero, Luis Serna Carvajal, Jorge Eliecer Baylon Hernandez, Maria Elizabeth Suarez, Luis Orlando Salazar Gallego, Eli de Jesus Quebrada Trejos, Hector Eduardo Castro Hernandez, Harold Roberto Ruiz Moreno and James Lozano Dias. According to the information received, these persons were allegedly being held in the premises of the Administrative Security Department (DAS) in Call, where they had been subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Two other trade union members, William Arley Escobar and Clotario Adrada, were allegedly being held at the Judicial Police (SIJIN) Station in Call. 46. On 24 April 1990, the Government of Colombia informed the Special Rapporteur that, on 2 March 1990, the Call Regional Prosecutor's Office reported that it hired an investigator, who went to the Brigade premises where the trade union members were being held and determined that they were in good physical condition. On 14 March 1990, the Call Regional Prosecutor's Office reported that it was conducting preliminary inquiries into alleged irregularities during the raids and in the wording used in Decrees No. 180 of 1988 and No. 1859 of 1989. It also provided assurances that, once the investigations being conducted in accordance with the legislation in force in Colombia have been completed, the national Government will report to the Special Rapporteur. 47. On 20 July 1990, the Special Rapporteur sent the Government of Colombia an urgent message concerning Juan de Dios Moreno and Licinio Renteria, banana plantation workers who were arrested on 28 June 1990 by members of the Infantry Battalion in Apartado, Antioquia, and accused of collaboration with guerrilla groups. According to the information received, they were taken to the regional military barracks where they were interrogated under torture. Fears have been expressed that they might continue to be in danger of being tortured. Government letters and replies 48. On 6 December 1990, the Government of Colombia provided the Special Rapporteur with information on two of the cases referred to in his letter dated 19 April 1989 (see document E/CN.4/1990/17, para. 46). With regard to the cases of Marisela Margarita Cuello Villamil (not Hernandez) and Argiro Alonso Avendafio Palacio, it reported that the Prosecutor's Office for the Defence of Human Rights made a special visit to the Seventh Court of Public Order in Medellin. The visiting lawyer from the Attorney-General's Office spoke with the persons concerned, noting that there had been no