E/CN.4/1999/61/Add.1 page 28 Government's political leadership; 4 and, third, to indicate that it consisted of techniques applied, in any individual case, in a deliberate manner to break the will of detainees. 103. The authorities propounded the view that the situation had in the previous few years (thus implicitly acknowledging that it before), especially since the introduction of shorter periods of without access to legal advice or without being brought before a these interlocutors, the phenomenon was now confined to isolated in any event, enjoyed no official sanction. much improved was graver custody court. For cases that, 104. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, the reality conforms to neither of the paradigms. He has no doubt, based upon extensive information reaching him over the years, that up to and including the first half of the 1990s, torture was practised systematically in all the senses mentioned above and on a widespread scale. Authoritative findings of the Committee against Torture and the Council of Europe's European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, have also buttressed this view. However, he believes that the past two years have witnessed notable improvements. 105. First, by and large, the new periods of incommunicado detention are being respected, thus restricting the amount of time available for the infliction of ill-treatment and the amount of time for visible signs of ill-treatment to heal. However, there is sufficient information indicating a more than occasional practice by some law enforcement officials of detaining and torturing or ill-treating suspects without bringing them immediately into custody. 106. Second, possibly connected with the above, there has been a substantial reduction in the brutality of the methods used in some places. Allegations of the use of falaka (beating on the soles of the feet), “Palestinian hanging” (hands tied behind the back and the body suspended by the tied hands), electric shocks and rape have abated substantially in some parts of the country, notably Ankara and Diyarbakir. On the other hand, blindfolding, the use of hosing with cold water, “straight hanging” (suspension by the raised arms from a crossbar), rough physical treatment, sexual abuses and threats of rape, the use of grossly insulting language and the making of threats to the life and physical integrity of detainees or their families still seem rife in many parts of the country. All of these torments are aggravated by the prolonged period of incommunicado detention still available in respect of anyone held on suspicion of involvement in (broadly defined) terrorist offences or in connection with ordinary offences involving, or thought to involve, more than two perpetrators; this includes but is not limited to drug-related offences. On the other hand, the worst of the practices described above still occur in some places. 107. The improvements here described are sufficiently significant to lead the Special Rapporteur to conclude that the continuing problems cannot be attributed to a formal policy of the Government. Indeed, he is disposed to consider the frequently reiterated official commitment to attaining European and international standards in law enforcement and the administration of justice as a reflection of an authentic political preference. In this connection, he welcomes the information provided by the Government after the