E/CN.4/1995/34 page 46 236. Fathiya Said Muhammad al-Kurd was allegedly tortured at SSI headquarters in February 1992. The Government stated that she had not made any complaint or submitted any evidence to substantiate the allegations. 237. Muhammad Mahmoud Shaikh, a Somali national serving a life sentence at Qanatir prison, reportedly died following a severe beating for attempting to escape. The Government replied that the medical report gave distension of the spleen, a condition from which he had previously suffered, and a sharp drop of blood pressure as the cause of death. 238. Talib Bakir Qaldash, a Turkish national imprisoned at Qanatir prison, allegedly died after beatings by warders in his cell. According to the Government, he had committed suicide by hanging on 29 July 1991 and a medical report stated that asphyxia by suffocation had caused his death. There was no evidence of his having been subjected to assault or ill-treatment by any of the prison staff. 239. The Government provided information in the following individual cases, but did not address the allegations of torture: Gamil Hassan Metwalli Sayyid, Mustafa, Sadiq Ibrahim Musa, Ashraf Abul-Hassan Ibrahim Qasim, Muhammad Alawi Ali Abdul Muheimin, Attiyya Ahmad Muhammad al-Sayyid, Midhat al-Sayyid Ahmad Hilal, Muhammad Khlaf Youssuf Abdul Rahman Zayid, Ahmad Thabit Faraq Muhammad, Atef Gamil Mahmoud (Atef Gamil Mahmoud Umran), Hani Abul-Magd Sabir Sayim (Abul-Magd Hani Sabir Siyam), Khalid Said Mahmoud. In the following individual cases, the allegations of torture were addressed only by stating that the named person had not filed a complaint of torture: Mu’tazz Ali Abdul Karim Abdul Ghani, Hanna Ali Farrag Abdul Karim, Talaat Fuad Muhammad Qasim and Ahmad Hafiz al-Dhayit. In the following individual cases, the trial court was said to have responded to the defendant’s torture claim by disregarding the evidence obtained through torture: Sharif Hassan Ahmad Muhammad Hassan, Qasim Ibrahim Qasim Qutaish, Ahmad Ibrahim Abdul Galil Mustafa, Ala ed-Din Ismail Abbas Ramadhan. 240. With the respect to the above, with the exception of the cases of Hanna Ali Farrag Abdul Karim and Amad Ibrahim Abdul Galil Mustafa, the Government subsequently informed the Special Rapporteur that the DPP had requested further details so that it could complete its investigations. 241. In the following individual cases, investigations by the Government were said to be ongoing: Muhammad al-Sayyid Ahmad Said, Amir Hamdi Salim, Hisham Mubarak Hassan, Ahmad Ismail Mahmoud Salama, Adel Sayyid Qasim Shaaban, Amer Abdel Moneim Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Reshad Abdul Rahim al-Imam, Muhammad al-Sayyid al-Sayyid Hegazi, Muhammad Afifi Matar. The Government subsequently informed the Special Rapporteur that the DPP had heard statements from these persons, had referred them to the Department of Forensic Medicine for medical examination, and were continuing its investigations. Observations 242. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the detailed replies he has received in respect of a number of cases. He nevertheless shares the concern of the Committee against Torture that "torture is apparently still widespread in Egypt" (A/49/44, para. 86; see also similar comments of the Human Rights