E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.3 page 18 Appendix Individual cases By letter dated 9 March 2005, the Special Rapporteur notified the Government of allegations by the following persons, whom he interviewed during the mission. While the Special Rapporteur does not draw any conclusions as to the facts as they were provided to him, he concluded from the interviews that these persons were tortured to extract confessions. Moreover, their injuries were still visible at the time of the meetings, and had been well documented by independent forensic experts. As was evident to the Special Rapporteur from the meetings, these persons continued to suffer from the effects of torture and were in need of appropriate medical treatment and rehabilitation, which they were not receiving. This is compounded by their already lengthy pretrial detention and the poor conditions in which they were detained, particularly in relation to Nodar Dudaev and David Mindadze. In this regard, and as an indication of mutual cooperation, the Special Rapporteur appealed to the Government to release the persons mentioned below from custody. The Government responded by letters dated 23 March and 9 July 2005. 1. Giorgi Vashakidze, a former Deputy Defence Minister, and Eldar Gogberashvili, both former members of the paramilitary organization Mhedrioni, and Beniamin Saneblidze, their driver. On 9 January 2004, they were arrested and taken to Saburtalo cemetery. For five hours, Eldar Gogberashvili and Beniamin Saneblidze were beaten in front of Giorgi Vashakidze with stones and handguns and subjected to simulated executions, in which the former Ministers of Security and Internal Affairs participated. Eldar Gogberashvili was dragged to a car, where his head was forced between the two front seats and he was choked. The two other men were put in the trunk. They were driven to the Tbilisi Head Department of Internal Affairs, where Eldar Gogberashvili and Beniamin Saneblidze continued to be beaten. Eldar Goberashvili was trussed up to an overhead heating pipe with car seatbelts and forced to put on a gas mask with the air valve periodically closed. He was subjected to electric shocks on his fingers and ears. Beniamin Saneblidze was reportedly given electric shocks to his head and hands. They were tortured to extract confessions of involvement in an attempted coup but later in the alleged kidnapping of an executive of the United Bank of Georgia in December 2003, allegations which they denied. On 12 January, they were taken to the Vake-Saburtalo district court, where the judge ignored the allegations of torture, and they were remanded in pretrial detention for three months. But rather than being taken to Prison No. 1, they were returned to the police station where they were held for an additional 18 hours. Eldar Gogberashvili continued to be tortured and eventually signed a confession to the kidnapping charge. They were not brought to Prison No. 1 until 13 January, where only cursory medical examinations were made. As a result of the torture, Beniamin Saneblidze was unable to sit up and had difficulties breathing. Medical examinations were reportedly conducted at the request of the Public Defender’s Office in April 2004. Eldar Gogberashvili had cigarette burns on his legs and scars consistent with the application of electric shock, which were still visible at the time of the Special Rapporteur’s meeting with him at Prison No. 1 on 22 February 2005. He still experienced pain in his kidney region and burning sensations in his eyes. Until just prior to the Special Rapporteur’s visit, he had been held in solitary confinement for most of his detention in Prisons No. 1 and No. 7 (where he was held from March to May 2004).