E/CN.4/1991/17 page 18 result of her presumed membership of an opposition group, for which she was tried twice and acquitted for lack of evidence of the charges against her. It is reported that, in October 1983, she was held incommunicado for 15 days, during which, as stated in the complaint, she was tortured and given electric shocks. It is also reported that, in August 1984, she was again held incommunicado for seven days and tortured. 60. On 10 August 1990, the Government of Ecuador informed the Special Rapporteur that: "Mrs. Cardenas Hernandez voluntarily turned herself in so that the court proceedings lawfully interrupted by her absence could continue, a procedure provided for by Ecuadorian law. Mrs. Cardenas' voluntary surrender took place publicly at the Court of Constitutional Guarantees in the presence of members of the Court and the Government Under-Secretariat, thus clearly demonstrating that conditions of humanitarian treatment, respect for human rights and the guarantee of an impartial trial have changed for the better in the country since August 1988, when the Government of Dr. Rodrigo Borja took power. In this specific case, the extended duration of the proceedings against Mrs. Cardenas is due primarily to the fact that Ecuadorian law requires the interruption of judicial proceedings when the accused are not present, as in this case. Mrs. Cardenas now has the assurance of treatment surrounded by every possible individual and procedural guarantee". Government letters and replies 61. On 28 February 1990, the Government of Ecuador sent the Special Rapporteur a letter replying to a communication of 17 November 1989 (E/CN.4/1990/17, para. 53) stating that the National Government is conducting the necessary investigations into the cases referred to and assuring him that it would make the information provided by the National Government available as soon as the investigations were completed. It also reported that, as an example of the activities being carried out to put an end to violations of human rights in the country, about 20 prison guards were dismissed from their functions for being responsible for the ill-treatment of prisoners in the various social rehabilitation centres in the country. In addition, in order to eliminate the ill-treatment of prisoners in rehabilitation centres, the National Government is setting up a training school for prison guards to prepare persons specifically for this work. Urgent appeals 62. On 14 September 1990, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Egypt concerning Khaled El Sherif, a journalist, who was arrested on 13 August 1990 and is currently being held at Tora Prison near El Maadi. It was alleged that Mr. El Sherif was tortured from 13 to 15 August 1990 at the=StjLte_S^cu£ijty_In,ie_liigeiice Headquarters, known as Lazughli, and that after being transferred to Tora Prison he was taken back to Lazughli and was again tortured for a week. A representative of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights reportedly visited Mr. El Sherif and saw various marks of torture on his body, including black scars indicating torture by electric shocks, and cigarette burns. It was further alleged that the Tora Prison administration failed to obey an order by the El Maadi Prosecutor to transfer Mr. El Sherif to a clinic.