E/CN.4/2003/68 page 5 physical constraints in circumstances contrary to international standards, lack of essential medical care and treatment, imminent corporal punishment, and serious risk of extradition or deportation to a State or territory where the person in question would reportedly be in danger of being subjected to torture. The Special Rapporteur may also address the enactment of legislation or other measures that may undermine the prohibition of torture. Owing to the time-sensitive nature of such an appeal, the Special Rapporteur transmits it directly to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the country concerned, urging the Government in question to take the necessary measures to ensure the physical and mental integrity of the person(s) concerned but without drawing any conclusions as to the facts. 9. Because urgent appeals serve immediate humanitarian purposes, the Special Rapporteur may exceptionally decide to send such appeals to entities other than official de jure authorities in cases where the entities in question, as well as a channel of communication for reaching them, have been clearly identified. In the past, situations of armed conflicts have provoked such action. The Special Rapporteur would like to recall that all parties to an armed conflict, be it of an international or an internal character, are bound by the minimum standards of humanitarian law that prohibit violence to life and person, in particular cruel treatment and torture, as well as outrages upon personal dignity, by any party to the conflict at any time and in any place whatsoever.1 The Special Rapporteur would like to stress that such urgent humanitarian appeals do not in any way determine the international legal status of such entities. Allegation letters 10. Information alleging torture received by the Special Rapporteur which does not require him to take immediate action is transmitted to Governments in the form of “allegation letters”. These letters contain summaries of individual cases of torture and, where applicable, include general references to the phenomenon of torture, such as alleged systematic patterns of the practice of torture, patterns relating to a specific group of victims or of perpetrators, or specific legislation deemed not sufficient to guarantee the right to physical and mental integrity. In these letters, the Special Rapporteur would request the Government concerned to clarify the substance of the allegations and urge it to take steps to investigate them, to prosecute and impose appropriate sanctions on any persons guilty of torture regardless of any rank, office or position they may hold, to take effective measures to prevent the recurrence of such acts, and to compensate the victims or their relatives in accordance with the relevant international standards. 11. Because of the limited staff resources, such communications were usually sent once a year - at the end of the summer - to Governments which were given some two months to respond. The Special Rapporteur hopes that he will be in a position to send such communications more regularly during the course of the year and will do his utmost to facilitate the processing of these communications by Governments concerned. He notes that it is desirable for Governments to receive relevant information as expeditiously as possible and to have their replies thereto reflected in the same report that contains the summary of the original information transmitted by the Special Rapporteur. Thus, reports of the Special Rapporteur would provide the reader with a balanced perspective on the matter.