CCPR/C/50/D/440/1990 English Page 4 information or observations on the admissibility of the communication had been received from the State party; nor did the State party provide information, as had been requested by the Committee's Special Rapporteur on New Communications on 2 August 1991, on the whereabouts of Mr. Mohammed El-Megreisi since January 1989, and on his state of health. In the circumstances, the Committee found that it was not precluded from considering the communication under article 5, paragraph 2 (b), of the Optional Protocol. 4.2 On 16 October 1992, the Committee declared the communication admissible in so far as it appeared to raise issues under articles 7, 9 and 10 of the Covenant. Examination of the merits : 5.1 The Committee begins by noting that the Optional Protocol entered into force for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on 16 August 1989. It observes that it is not precluded from considering the present communication, since the events complained of by the author have continued after 16 August 1989. 5.2 In spite of a reminder addressed to it in October 1993, the State party did not provide any information in respect of the substance of the author's allegations, nor in respect of Mr. M. El-Megreisi's current whereabouts, state of health and conditions of detention, as requested in paragraph 6 (c) of the Committee's decision on admissibility. The Committee notes with regret and great concern the absence of cooperation on the part of the State party, both in respect of the admissibility and the substance of the author's allegations. It is implicit in article 4, paragraph 2, of the Optional Protocol and in rule 91 of the Committee's rules of procedure that a State party to the Covenant must investigate in good faith all the allegations of violations of the Covenant made against it and its authorities, and to furnish to the Committee the information available to it. The lack of cooperation from the State party prevents the Committee from fully discharging its functions under the Optional Protocol. 5.3 The Committee therefore bases its assessment on the undisputed facts that Mr. Mohammed El-Megreisi was arrested in January 1989, that no charges were or have been brought against him, and that he has not been released to date. In the opinion of the Committee, therefore, he has been subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention, and continues to be arbitrarily detained, contrary to article 9 of the Covenant. 5.4 Moreover, the Committee notes, from the information before it, that Mohammed El-Megreisi was detained incommunicado for more than three years, until April 1992, when he was allowed a visit by his wife, and that after that date he has again been detained incommunicado and in a secret location. Having regard to these facts, the Committee finds that Mr. Mohammed Bashir El-Megreisi, by being subjected to prolonged incommunicado detention in an unknown location, is the victim of torture and cruel and inhuman treatment, in violation of articles 7 and 10, paragraph 1, of the Covenant. /...