E/CN.4/1991/17 page 19 Letters 63. On 6 June 1990 the Special Rapporteur addressed a letter to the Government of Egypt transmitting information alleging that the practice of torture and ill-treatment of detainees has continued to increase in the last months of 1989. According to testimonies given by former detainees arbitrary arrests and detentions without formal charges have become more common in recent months. The methods of physical and psychological torture allegedly resorted to in Egyptian prisons and State Security Intelligence Police,(SSIP) centres included: beating, flogging, suspension by the wrists, ankles or knees; electric shocks administered to sensitive areas such as the mouth, nipples or genitals; sexual abuse, indefinite solitary confinement, stripping, blindfolding, exposure to extreme water temperatures, temporary suffocation, deprivation of basic necessities, such as food, water or bathroom facilities; and threats of rape or abuse directed at the detainees' friends, family, or relatives. It was further reported that in 1989 the practice of "aroussa", whereby a prisoner is placed semi-naked on a cross and whipped, came back into use in Egyptian prisons. Detention centres and prisons where torture was alleged to be practised systematically included SSIP centres in Cairo (Lazughli), Giza and Asyut, as well as the Tora Reception prison and the Abu-Za'abal prison. Victims were said to have principally included activists of opposition groups and members or sympathizers of Islamic fundamentalist groups, but to an increasing extent simple demonstrators and children have allegedly also been subjected to ill-treatment and torture. In some cases the wounds reportedly inflicted, resulted in the detainee's death. It was reported that numerous torture complaints have been filed with the office of the Prosecutor General, but that the result was usually one of no investigation or refusal to comment. The following cases of alleged torture and death as a result of torture were reported: (a) Makhlouf Abdel-Al Ahmed was arrested on 2 January 1989 by security officers and detained at el Dahar Police Station. He was allegedly beaten on the head, face and chest, and then sent to the Coptic hospital. He died on 8 January 1989. A forensic study concluded that the cause of death was severe cerebral haemorrhaging as well as a collapse of the cardiac and circulatory systems. The former reportedly resulted from beatings on the back of his head; (b) Emad Yussef Ahmed Qandil, arrested on 4 April 1989, was allegedly tortured at the SSIP centre in Tanta (Gharbia Governorate). Torture included electric shocks and being suspended from an iron bar between two chairs; (c) Mohamed Mostafa Ibrahim, a worker and elected member to the board of directors in the Iron and Steel Company in Helwan, was arrested on 6 August 1989 in connection with a peaceful sit-in demonstration. Both he and his colleague, Mostafa Nayed, were stripped, bound, beaten, and received electric shocks in sensitive areas; (d) Kamal Khalil Ibrahim, arrested with 62 other persons on 24 August 1989. Upon transferral to Abu Za'abal Prison Ibrahim and his colleagues were subjected to a group beating by police, armed with sticks and electric batons. It was further reported that Khalil's head was banged against a wall until he lost consciousness;