blindfolded and taken by Comandante Pedro to a place where two truckloads of prisoners were being assembled. He was forced to board one of the trucks and was driven out of town, where the prisoners were made to climb down and walk to a spot where they were ordered to kneel; approximately 30 of them were shot with a bullet to the back of the head. The surviving 10 were taken elsewhere. He was told not to speak of what he had witnessed because his wife and son would be made to suffer for it. 6.5 The author further describes the torture and ill-treatment to which he was allegedly subjected. On 11 October 1979, he and other detainees were taken out of their cells by mercenaries of Argentinian nationality, Che Walter and Che Manuel. At 9 a.m. they were taken to an office where they were beaten. In particular, he claims that he was handcuffed and hanged with a chain from the roof of the office. He was allegedly asked to sign a confession concerning the assassination of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, the husband of the current President of Nicaragua. The text of the confession was read out to him by D. M. R., the legal counsel to the Police Commander. He categorically refused to sign any such statement, in spite of threats. At 1 p.m., the interrogators returned with one of the most notorious torturers of the Dirección General de Seguridad del Estado, but he continued to refuse to sign any confession, whereupon Che Manuel, J. M. S. and R. C. G. proceeded to administer beatings all over his body until 7 p.m. At 11 p.m., the chains were removed, and he fell to the floor, where he was kicked by the same interrogators. He was then driven out of town, where he and 15 other prisoners were to be executed. Someone read out the death sentences ordered by the Junta de Gobierno de Reconstrucción Nacional. Whereas the other 15 were killed, he was not. Although he does not remember clearly what happened, it appears that he passed out and only regained consciousness sometime after the shooting, when he was lying on the ground and still handcuffed. At 2 a.m. on 12 October 1979, he was taken to Managua to the offices of the Dirección General de Seguridad del Estado, where he was received by "Compañero Ernesto", who removed his handcuffs. At 6.30 a.m., he was taken to a house that had been used as a dormitory of the former Oficina de Seguridad Nacional and interrogated there by "Comandante Pedro", whose real name was R. B., who also took his Bulova wristwatch, his wedding ring and his wallet containing 400 cordobas. He names five witnesses who saw him arrive at the offices of the Dicrección General de Seguridad del Estado. At around noon Comandante Pedro, together with J. R. (Compañero Patricio) and H. I. (Capitán Santiago), came to pick him up, handcuffed and took him to a room where he was again chained, partially suspended from the ceiling. He was told that the academic and administrative cadres of the University of Nicaragua were full of agents of the CIA and that he should endorse a declaration prepared for his signature, denouncing, inter alia, some of his University colleagues, Professors E. A. C., F. C. G., J. C. V. R. and A. F. V. When he refused to sign the declaration, because he never had any contact or relationship with the CIA, he was beaten by Comandante Pedro, Compañero Patricio and Capitán Santiago. He was then left in peace for a few weeks, but on 7 November 1979 he was again handcuffed, 6.6 On 26 November 1979, the author and 23 other prisoners were taken to a new prison establishment near the international airport of Managua, the Centro de Rehabilitación Social y Política, under Comandante V. J. G., who allegedly personally assassinated several guards of the former Somoza Government. 6.7 On 7 December, after two months of incomunicado detention, he was allowed to be visited by his wife. He learned from her that their home had been ransacked on 12 October by forces of the Dirección General de Seguridad del Estado, which beat up his then pregnant wife, causing a miscarriage, and stole jewels and other items of personal property. 6.8 On 26 March 1980 at 11 p.m., he was transferred, together with some 29 other political prisoners, to the Carcel Modelo, which was more like a concentration camp where the inmates had been so undernourished, he claims, that they looked like figures from Buchenwald. Because of the torture and the fear of being summarily executed, the prisoners appeared traumatized. Moreover, family visits were not allowed, nor was the sending of food packages. Responsible for the abuses were F. F. A., F. L. A., S. A. G. and J. I. G. C. Principal responsibility, however, lay on J. M. A., the Director of the Penitentiary system, under whose orders allegedly more than 100 political prisoners were shot. 6.9 The author claims that these crimes and abuses have not been investigated by the new Government of Nicaragua. 6.10 In a further submission of 29 March 1993, the author refers to a book by Dr. Carlos Humberto Canales Altamirano, Injusticia Sandinista. Carcel y Servicio, in which his case is frequently mentioned, in particular the subhuman prison conditions leading to his infection with hepatitis and the aggravation of his chronic asthma attacks and the responsibility of the prison doctor J.A.B. for these conditions. 7. The author's submissions were transmitted to the State party on 5 January 1993 and 26 August 1993. In its observations of 16 July 1993, the State party does not enter the merits of the case but merely refers to article 5, paragraph 2 (b), of the Optional Protocol, indicating that the author has not availed 33