E/CN.4/1992/17 page 25 (c) Mustafa Said Al-Sharkawi and Muhammad Hasanin Muhammad, arrested on 28 September 1990, together with Hasan Muhammad Ismail and Ahmed Mustafa Hamouda. Messrs. Al-Sharkawi and Muhammad were taken to the State SecurityHeadquarters in Cairo where they were allegedly tortured, including by beatings, suspension by their hands tied behind their backs, electric shocks and threats of rape. Mr. Al-Sharkawi was alleged to have been tortured on three occasions, on 29 and 30 September and on 2 October 1990. 79. On 27 December 1990 the Government of Egypt replied by submitting several "notes containing clarifications to the allegations of practices of torture". One note contained information and clarifications in response to requests made by the United Nations Committee Against Torture. A second one contained information in response to a request made by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. A third note concerned the alleged persecution of Copts in Egypt. A fourth document was a copy of a letter from the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Khaled esh-Sherif, one of the persons mentioned in the Special Rapporteur's letter. It was stated that that person had been arrested on the basis of information concerning his involvement with members of the extremist "Jihad" organization, who had been indicted. The Department of Public Prosecutions decided to release him and this decision was put into effect on 27 September 1990. No details were given about his state of health, or about the detailed torture allegations made regarding him, and the other three persons mentioned in the Special Rapporteur's letter. 80. On 17 April 1991 the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the Government of Egypt transmitting information alleging that the occurrence of torture in the country had increased during 1990. Most alleged torture victims were members of fundamentalist Islamic groups in opposition to the Egyptian Government. Most cases of alleged torture were said to have occurred during interrogations held in the State Security Information Centre at Lazoghli, Cairo, and were said to have been perpetrated by officers of the State Security Information Police. Alleged methods of torture included severe beating, using whips, rifle butts, clubs and wire; being bound with chains and hung from walls and ceilings; application of electric shocks to the genitals and other sensitive areas of the body; sexual abuse; and psychological abuse, such as threats and intimidations for the purpose of extracting confessions. 81. Reports received indicated that several persons had been arrested and charged with participating in the assassination of the Speaker of the People's Assembly, Rifa'at al-Mahgoub. They included Mamdouh Ali Youssef, Safwat Abd al-Ghani, Muhammed Ahmad al-Ghani, Azzat Hussein Ali, Abd al Nasser Nouh Ahmad, Assem Ali al Sayyid 'Othman, Adel Ali Musallam, Ahmad Mostafa Zaki, Muhammad Mostafa Zaki, Abu al-Makarim and Abd al-Rahman. The State Security Procuracy has reportedly taken note of physical signs of torture on all 10 men. Mamdouh Ali Youssef had allegedly received a spinal injury and was brought to his interrogation on a stretcher. 82. The Special Rapporteur also brought to the Government's attention several cases of persons who were allegedly tortured at police stations. Some of the cases were said to have been reported in the Egyptian press. The persons concerned were Hamdy al-Nazeely, Ashraf Abdel Moneim Sharsher, Abdel Hamid Ratib, Salem Ibrahim, Mirvat Abdel Hamid, Ashraf Nassar,