E/CN.A/1990/17 page 51 prison. They were named as Husein Hiisnu Eroglu and Mehmet Yalcinkaya. It was also alleged that several prisoners were suffering serious injuries after being beaten: Adibelli Havi had a broken spine, Aktas Alaattin had many bruises on the head and Sinem Serif was urinating and defecating blood. Kilic Mehmet, Ocet Sedat and Gungor Mustafa were also suffering from various injuries, allegedly as a result of beating. It was also reported that following the killing of five people at the beginning of July 1989 near Balveren village, Sirnak district in Siirt province, several villagers were detained and interrogated at the command of the 23rd border brigade in Sirnak. One of them, Salih Zeyrek, aged 19, later alleged that he and the other villagers had been tortured over 10 days. He was allegedly put into a barrel and held there for 24 hours with the lid closed. The objective of the alleged torture was to extract a confession about the killings. Another of the villagers detained on that occasion, Mustafa Sidar, was reportedly taken back to the village after 12 days of detention and was unable to walk on his own. Mustafa Sidar had allegedly confessed under torture to being in possession of a weapon. It was further reported that Ahmet Contay, a 25-year-old Turkish student living in Germany, was reportedly detained on or about 17 September 1989 in Kapikule, as he was about to leave Turkey. He was transferred first to Edirne and later to Istanbul and Ankara for interrogation, and was released without charge on 29 September 1989. During his detention he was allegedly beaten and subjected to various forms of torture, including suspension and electric shocks. After his release he entered hospital because of abdominal pain. Finally, it was reported that several students who were arrested before 13 September 1989 and later released were allegedly forced to admit that they had taken part in illegal political activity. Eyuphan Basar and Yusuf Ali Yildiz had reportedly made formal depositions after their release, alleging that they had been given electric shocks, suspended by their wrists, forced into a car tyi<= and sprayed with a pressurized water-jet. Erhan Karaca and Yusuf Ali Yilmaz were also allegedly tortured. 162. On 11 December 1989 the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Turkey concerning eight persons who were detained on or around 27 November 1989 in Istanbul and have since been held incommunicado, reportedly at the political branch of the Istanbul police headquarters. Their names were reported as follows: Bulent Solgun, Dunnus Erdemir, Ibrahim Tuzun, Ibrahim Gundogdu, Halit Lale, Gulay Yuan, Musa Erdogan, Hasan Demiralp. Another person, Nail Cavus, the editing director of a political publication, was reportedly arrested in Istanbul on 5 December 1989 and was believed to be under interrogation by the political police in connection with the aforementioned arrests. Fears have been expressed that these persons may be interrogated under torture. Uganda 163. On 18 July 1989 the Special Rapporteur addressed a letter to the Government of Uganda transmitting information alleging that, in spite of a significant improvement in respect for human right6 achieved by the Government since the beginning of 1986, the practice of torture had not been totally eliminated. Cases of torture were reported in particular in those areas where security forces were struggling with rebel movements. The North was the region where most cases of torture allegedly occurred, but 6ome cases were also reported in Kampala, both in NRA (National Resistance Army) barracks and in military intelligence and Internal Security Organization headquarters.