E/CN.4/1993/26 page 66 279. In addition to the above-mentioned, the Special Rapporteur made urgent appeal on behalf of the persons involved in the incidents mentioned below. The date in which they were sent appears in brackets at the end of the corresponding summary. 280. Hundreds of persons were reportedly arrested following demonstrations and riots which took place beginning in mid-April 1992 in Mashhad, Arak, Chahar-Mahal, Hamedan, Khorramabad, Shiraz, Shushtar and Teheran. In the case of Mashhad, it was reported that a group of approximately 300 people were arrested on 30 May 1992 during a demonstration reportedly sparked off by attempts by the municipal authorities to destroy illegally constructed buildings and forcibly evict their inhabitants, as well as discontent with the social and economic situation. Fears were expressed that these persons might be subjected to torture or ill-treatment. (10 June 1992). 281. Gholam Ghahremani, an Iranian refugee in Dubai, was reportedly abducted on 3 August 1992 and taken to the Teheran Evin prison. Fears were expressed that he might be subjected to torture. (23 October 1992). 282. Abdollah Bagheri, a former member of the Kurdish opposition group Komala, was arrested at the beginning of November 1992 outside Mariwan, close to the Iraq border. Mr. Bagheri was reportedly being held in incommunicado detention and fears were expressed that he might be subjected to torture or ill-treatment. (11 December 1992). Iraq 283. In an urgent appeal transmitted on 3 December 1992 the Special Rapporteur communicated to the Government that he had received information according to which since April 1992, when the military authorities issued orders to the local population of the marshes of southern Iraq to evacuate the area, there has been a policy of deliberately targeting non-combatant civilians. Although the air exclusion zone imposed since August 1992 put an end to the aerial attacks, government forces have reportedly stepped up ground attacks accompanied, inter alia, by widespread arbitrary arrests and torture, like those which took place in the village of al-Salem near al-Mudaina (Basra province) in September. In the second week of October, widespread arrests were reportedly carried out by government forces in the context of the officially named "punitive campaign" (al-Hamla al-Ta'dibiyya). Several thousand people were said to have been arrested, in particular in Misan province; many of them, reportedly unarmed civilians, were arrested from their homes or in the streets at random by the security forces. The detainees were reportedly held at the 4th Army Corps headquarters in the city of al-Amara, although a small number of them were later transferred to Baghdad. Fears were expressed that they might be subjected to torture or ill-treatment.