E/CN.4/1996/35/Add.2 page 6 14. According to a recent study of the Chilean criminal and judicial system based on empirical data prepared by Diego Portales University, ill-treatment of detainees by the police in the interval between arrest and appearance before a judge or release is fairly customary. According to statistics based on interviews with prisoners, 22 per cent said they had received good treatment, while 71 per cent said they had received poor treatment and 7 per cent irregular treatment. Among the poorly treated prisoners, 74 per cent said they had received blows of various kinds, 49 per cent said they had had electric shocks applied to various parts of their bodies; 20 per cent said they had been undressed; 6 per cent had been hung by their hands and feet and 5 per cent said plastic bags had been placed over their heads. 2/ 15. Forensic Medicine Department authorities told the Special Rapporteur that, although they did not believe torture was practised systematically, they did encounter a small percentage of injuries resulting from torture. 3/ 16. The Committee for the Defence of the People’s Rights (CODEPU), for its part prepared a report based on the complaints received by a legal team between March 1994 and August 1995, stating that it had received 51 complaints, which may be broken down as follows: 1 of torture resulting in death; 21 of torture resulting in serious injuries; 25 of torture resulting in light injuries and 4 of cruel and inhuman treatment. The Police Department was allegedly involved in 11 of the cases, Carabineros officials in 38 and other agencies in 2. Most of the victims were young men arrested for either alleged or accessory offences. 4/ CODEPU also received 140 complaints between 1990 and 1994, 100 of which led to judicial proceedings and 40 to administrative charges. 17. Both CODEPU and other non-governmental organizations agreed that the most frequent cases of torture tended to occur in the hours following the arrest, by Carabineros or Police Department officials, with fewer cases recently involving the latter. The most common objective of the torture appears to be extracting a self-incriminating statement from the detainee. The most frequently used methods are beating, by kicking, punching or hitting with blunt objects, such as a police truncheon; applying electric shocks to sensitive areas of the body and obstructing normal breathing, for example by placing a plastic bag over the head. The Special Rapporteur also learned of cases of sexual abuse against women and other cases in which the individual was reportedly hung by the hands and feet from a pole and beaten while in that position. 18. One type of treatment that appears to be fairly frequent consists of keeping detainees handcuffed and blindfolded for long periods, even as long as several days running, as well as depriving them of sleep. The Special Rapporteur received statements describing detentions, some recent, in which such methods had been used virtually exclusively. 19. The practice of blindfolding detainees, together with the fact that only high-level police officials wear identification badges, makes it difficult for detainees to identify those responsible for abuses. It was also pointed out that there is no requirement under the law for the name of the officers making the arrest and conducting the interrogation to be recorded. The Special