E/CN.4/1998/38 page 27 Maldives 131. The Special Rapporteur transmitted two urgent appeals. Mauritania 132. The Special Rapporteur transmitted to the Government an urgent appeal on behalf of five persons. Mexico 133. The Special Rapporteur transmitted eight urgent appeals to the Government, one of which jointly with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. The Government provided information in connection with seven of them, as well as two cases transmitted in 1995 and 1996 respectively. Observations 134. The report of the Special Rapporteur’s mission to Mexico (E/CN.4/1998/38/Add.2) contains his conclusions and recommendations regarding the situation from the perspective of his mandate. Myanmar 135. By letter dated 21 February 1997, the Special Rapporteur informed the Government that he had received reports indicating that the army (tatmadaw) had continued to use torture and ill-treatment against members of ethnic minorities in the Shan and Mon States and the Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) Division. Persons forced to perform portering duties for the army and villagers suspected of having links with armed opposition groups were said to be most vulnerable to such practices. Porters unable to carry their required loads of supplies and ammunition were allegedly often punished by such methods as repeated beatings with bamboo sticks or rifle butts and deprivation of food, water, rest and medical treatment. 136. The Special Rapporteur had also been informed that a number of persons who were forced to perform unpaid labour by the tatmadaw on construction projects had allegedly been subjected to ill-treatment, including by being held in chains and receiving inadequate food and medical care. 137. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received information according to which a number of persons had allegedly been beaten by the police during student demonstrations in Yangon in December 1996. 138. By its letter dated 25 April 1997, the Government stated generally, with respect to the student demonstrations in December 1996, that there had been no single incident leading to bloodshed. Concerning the general allegations of the treatment of porters by members of the armed forces, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that the armed forces sometimes had to employ civilian labourers for transportation of supplies and equipment over difficult terrain in remote areas when launching operations against armed groups. The law provided for the hiring of civilian labourers to assist the armed forces