Annex V Decisions of the Committee against Torture under article 22 of the Convention A. Thirteenth session Communication No. 10/1993 Submitted by: A. E. M. and C. B. L. (parents of the alleged victims) Alleged victims: J. E. and E. B. State party: Spain Date of communication: 2 February 1993 The Committee against Torture, established under article 17 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Meeting on 14 November 1994, Adopts the following: Decision on admissibility 1. The authors of the initial communication are A. E. M. and C. B. L., citizens of Spain residing in Santurce in the Basque province, writing on behalf of their son J. E. and his wife E. B., who are currently detained at the Spanish prisons of Orense and Albacete, respectively. By power of attorney of 31 December 1993, Mr. E. authorized his parents to act on his behalf and on behalf of his wife. The facts as submitted by the authors: 2.1 The authors, who reside in the same apartment complex as did the alleged victims, claim that on 29 January 1992, at six in the morning, members of the Spanish police blew up the door of J. E.’s apartment and arrested him and his wife in their bedroom. J. E. was taken to the Guardia Civil in Bilbao and later Madrid and kept incommunicado for five days, during which he was allegedly subjected to torture and ill treatment, including beatings to the head, electrical shocks to the head, testicles and other parts of the body. His head was allegedly put into a plastic bag until he had almost been asphyxiated. His wife remained in the apartment while the police officers carried out a search, which lasted until approximately 9.30 in the morning, at which time she too was taken into custody. Upon arrival at the police station, she was allegedly hooded and left in a room for a long period of time, she was undressed by force and handcuffed. On 30 January she and her husband were driven to Madrid, where beatings and electric shocks allegedly continued during 96 hours of intermittent interrogation. As a consequence of the maltreatment her menstrual period commenced two weeks ahead of time, but she was not allowed to clean herself. Meanwhile Mr. E. was allegedly hung upside down from a lamp, until he lost consciousness, and a Guardia Civil officer forced a revolver barrel into his mouth and shot, without a bullet. Psychotropic drugs were allegedly -42-