E/CN.4/1997/7 page 22 Indonesia 91. By letter dated 11 July 1996 the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had continued to receive reports indicating that torture or other ill-treatment of both criminal suspects and persons detained for political reasons was occurring on a widespread basis in Indonesia. Persons said to be particularly vulnerable to such abuse were those arrested within the context of counter-insurgency operations in Irian Jaya and East Timor, workers engaging in strikes or unauthorized union activities, student demonstrators and journalists. 92. The use of torture was reportedly facilitated by the following factors: the near-impunity enjoyed by members of the security forces; the frequent practice of unacknowledged and/or arbitrary detention; the denial to detainees of access to legal counsel; and restrictions on such access by human rights monitors. The methods of torture reported include beatings all over the body with fists, pieces of wood, iron bars, cables, bottles or rocks; burning with cigarettes; electric shocks; rape and other sexual abuse; suspension upside-down by the ankles; sleep and food deprivation; and death threats. 93. The National Commission on Human Rights ( Komnas HAM ) was said to lack full independence and effectiveness, as evidenced by its apparent failure to consider, in its investigation of the riots in East Timor of September and October 1995, a number of human rights violations, including torture, allegedly committed by members of the security forces. In addition, being under no formal obligation to act on the Commission's findings, the Government had reportedly ignored them partially or wholly. 94. By letter dated 20 October 1996 the Government stated that by presenting sweeping allegations, without any substance whatsoever, that torture was widespread in Indonesia, the Special Rapporteur was engaging in a questionable method of work. Allegations of this nature should not be processed by the Special Rapporteur. The Government stressed that it had neither the time nor the inclination to explain that the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights had all the power and resources to be operational and independent. To explain this matter, on behalf of the Commission, would be an irresponsible attempt to tamper with its work. The Government also provided quotations from an Indonesian human rights lawyer, a former Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, the United States Secretary of State and a United States Under-Secretary of State, all commenting favourably upon the work of the Human Rights Commission. Information transmitted to the Government in connection with the Special Rapporteur's visit to Portugal 95. By letter dated 19 September 1996 the Special Rapporteur informed the Indonesian Government that the Government of Portugal had invited him to visit Lisbon in order to meet a number of East Timorese persons residing in Portugal who had allegedly been tortured by Indonesian security forces prior to leaving their country. Partly due to the fact that the Government of Indonesia had replied negatively (at least until spring 1997) to the Special Rapporteur's request for a visit to Indonesia and East Timor, he decided to accept the invitation. The Special Rapporteur considered that that opportunity to obtain