A/HRC/13/39/Add.2
crimes division, where he underwent a medical examination. He was then presented before
a judge, who took his statement. When the judge asked about the injury to his eye, Mr. de
Matteis indicated that he had hit himself with his fist because he was nervous. He also
stated that he had not been ill-treated by anyone.
151. The Special Rapporteur was also provided with the report of an Uruguayan forensic
doctor who had examined Mr. de Matteis on 25 March 2009, stating the following:
“Question: Tell me who caused this lesion on your eye. Answer: I caused it in order to be
brought to the judge to hear my case. Question: Did anybody at any time attack you
physically? Answer: No, the treatment is good. I felt bad at this moment and now they think
that I will accuse them of beating me.” The final report to the judge states that “according
to the declarations by José de Matteis and the attached forensic certificate, it is concluded
that the lesions presented on Mr. de Matteis are self-inflicted as a means to receive a
judicial hearing.” No further investigation had been conducted into the case.
152. The Special Rapporteur suspects that José de Matteis was punched in the face as a
reprisal because he had spoken to the Special Rapporteur during his earlier visit.
153. A male detainee, aged 23, was slapped in the face in the police car when he was
arrested. Before he was taken to the car, he was hit by the police with sticks. He believed he
was hit because the police wanted to provoke a reaction from him. He said that while in
court awaiting trial, detainees had to wear heavy handcuffs behind their back, which were
fixed to rings on the floor.
154. Jorge Marcello Enrique Huelmo, aged 25, reported that he had been arrested in a
park, at 7 a.m. on 25 March 2009. He was reportedly sleeping and the police woke him up
by punching, kicking and handcuffing him. They then threw him into a police car and
continued to beat him in order to get him to confess to a crime. He claimed that he had not
committed a crime, although he did have a criminal record. He was then taken to the
judge’s office, but did not see the judge. Instead, he met a court-appointed lawyer who told
him that she could not do anything to help him. On 26 March 2009, he was taken to the
interrogation room, where he was stripped to his underpants and forced to sit on a chair; the
police took a photograph of him before interrogating him. He claimed that the police hit
him with their hands and said that the judge would not believe him as he had a criminal
record. Since he had no money, he could not bribe them. Then they allegedly tortured him
with electroshocks applied five times to different parts of his body with a black cattle prod
(picana) for 30 minutes.
155. A male detainee, aged 19, was arrested at around 5 p.m. on 23 March 2009 by
members of the theft and robbery division dressed in civilian clothes. He was then taken to
the robbery division and put in a dirty calabozo. That night, he was allegedly tortured by
three or four police officers for about four hours. He was handcuffed to a stool, beaten, and
a black bag was put over his head. He was stripped naked and suspended by his handcuffs
from the ceiling. The police threw buckets of cold water at him and applied electroshocks
with cables to his testicles. He said that after the second round of electroshocks he started to
shake and cry, and confessed. The next morning, he was taken to the judge’s office, but he
did not see a judge. He complained of being tortured, and the police at the judge’s office
beat him again. That same evening, he was taken to Police Headquarters.
52
GE.09-17655
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