E/CN.4/1995/34 page 13 to torture after the discovery of a small radio in the possession of one of the prisoners and a letter from Mohammed Jamil Al-Jamri to a relative. The prisoners were also allegedly singled out for their participation in a hunger strike to protest ill-treatment in prison. Mohammed Jamil Al-Jamri was observed by family members to be very weak and to have swollen eyes and pain in his limbs. 44. Sayed Alawi Sayed Mohsen Sayed Neamah Al-Alawi was arrested on 21 August 1993 in connection with his role as a leader of the religious centre Maatem Al-Qasab, which had been closed by the authorities. He was transferred to the Al-Qala Intelligence Sector Detention Centre and allegedly subjected to torture, as the result of which he had to be transferred to a government military hospital. 45. On 17 October 1994 the Government replied that torture was prohibited by the Constitution and was a specific crime under the 1976 Penal Code. All prisoners were well treated, their conditions were humane, and they all enjoyed freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. On demand medical assistance was provided for prisoners on a continuous basis by qualified medical staff and prison staff were all properly trained career professionals. 46. The Government also stated that Mohamed Jamil Al-Jamri had not been subjected to torture or ill-treatment of any kind. His medical records revealed that he was occasionally treated for a recurrent ear complaint of which he had a long history. Sayed Alawi Sayed Mohsen Sayed Neamah Al-Alawi was held in ordinary police custody throughout the period of his arrest until his release; there was no evidence that he had been mistreated or subjected to any form of torture and he had not been transferred to any hospital nor was he in need of hospitalization. He was treated by a doctor at his own request for poor vision, of which he claimed to have a long history, insomnia, skin irritation and dyspepsia. Urgent appeals 47. The Special Rapporteur transmitted three urgent appeals to the Government on behalf of the persons mentioned in the following paragraphs. The date on which the appeals were sent is stated in parenthesis following the corresponding summaries. 48. Mohammad Hassan, ’Abd ’Ali Sengais, ’Ali Said Ja’far ’Alawi Shabib, ’Abbas Hamid Mohammad ’Ali, ’Isa ’Abd ’Ali ’Abd al-Hadi Muhsin, Faisal Shakhouri, Hassan Ahmed al-’Ikri, Ridha Jawad, Hussein Mansour, ’Abbas Ahmed Jassim, Ra’ed al-Khawaja, Mohammad Mansour al-Mahari, Mohammad al-Sayrafi, and Mansour al-’Ikri, were among a group of members of the Shi’a community arrested in Manama on 19 January 1994 while gathered peacefully at al-Mu’min mosque for a ceremony commemorating the death of Ayatollah Golpayegani. Some persons were allegedly beaten at the time of their arrest and it was reported that they were being held in incommunicado detention at an unknown place (26 January 1994). 49. The following prisoners, convicted of politically motivated crimes and held at Jaw prison No. 1, were allegedly transferred to Al-Qala prison and