E/CN.4/1995/34 page 47 Committee; A/48/40, para. 707). Even the number of cases in respect of which a court has considered evidence inadmissible because of duress is alarming, as is the absence of prosecution, conviction and appropriate sentence of those responsible for the duress. It is clear that interrogators have detainees at their mercy for too long a period and that this and the rarity of prosecutions and convictions must give them a sense of impunity. The tendency of the Government to treat each case separately, when torture in individual cases is notoriously difficult to prove, is an inadequate response to an apparently widespread practice. Serious and thoroughgoing general measures are required to bring the situation into conformity with Egyptian and international law. Despite the ferocious challenges that ruthless terrorism has posed for the Government, the Special Rapporteur joins the Committee against Torture in reminding the Government that torture can never be justified. El Salvador Information transmitted to the Government 243. By letter dated 30 June 1994 the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received information on the cases of alleged torture summarized in the following paragraphs. 244. Yolanda del Carmen Espinosa Henríquez, a member of the trade union of the enterprise LIDO, was abducted on 3 February 1993 by armed men driving a pick-up with blacked-out windows. She was taken to the central National Police station in San Salvador, where she was reportedly locked in a cell and beaten. She was then allegedly forced to remain for several hours under a cold shower and was raped by two of her abducters and threatened with death. 245. Wilber Alexander Morales Gómez, an 18-year-old Costa Rican, was arrested on 22 July 1993 by members of the San Salvador Municipal Police for failing to carry identity papers. While in transit to police headquarters, he was allegedly beaten repeatedly and this treatment continued at police headquarters. The following day his injuries were observed by a forensic physician. On 24 July he was reportedly taken to Rosales hospital and diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic pancreatitis. Proceedings were said to be pending against four National Police officers for causing bodily injury. 246. Rufino Flores Sánchez was arrested on 14 July 1993 in Soyapango by some six National Police officers, who accused him of not having a valid driving licence. When Mr. Flores protested, he was reportedly severely beaten. Two days later, he was examined by a doctor who noted bruises on the back of the head, thorax, left arm and both feet and abrasions extending from the mouth to the ears, and on the neck, thumbs, elbows and back. Mr. Flores lodged a complaint with the Soyapango magistrates’ court, which sent an official letter to the local National Police chief requesting information regarding the officers. However, the National Police in Soyapango denied that members of the unit in question had been on patrol in the place and on the date indicated. 247. Edwin Antonio Cebillas, Luis Abisaí Rivas González, Ronald Romeo Mediano and Guillermo Rivas Soriano were arrested on 23 October 1993 in the Popotlán