E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.3 page 21 and further developed within the framework of the United Nations. It is unacceptable for a representative of the United Nations to make an appeal manifestly counter to these principles and calling into question the sovereignty of Georgia as an independent State. 5. Gia Lobzhanidze and Valeri Kurtanidze, who were the subject of an urgent appeal dated 9 June 2004 sent by the Special Rapporteur and the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, for which no response has been received (E/CN.4/2005/62/Add.1, para. 683). According to the information received, on 22 April 2004, the two men were attacked by five or six armed men in Tbilisi at the entrance of the 5th block of Digomi District, and taken to the police department of the Didube-Chugureti region. The police kicked and beat them with the butts of their handguns in order to make them confess to robbing a flat. When they refused, Gia Lobzhanidze and Valeri Kurtanidze were taken to the Tbilisi Head Department of Internal Affairs, where they were subjected to further torture. It is alleged that live wires were applied simultaneously to Gia Lobzhanidze’s toes while his feet were drenched with water, as well as to his ears. He bit through his tongue and could not move it, speak properly or eat for several days. After he lost consciousness he was reportedly revived by the policemen with spirits. Following this, Gia Lobzhanidze, who is left-handed, was forced to write a confession with his right hand. No medical care was provided. The court-appointed medical expert who examined Gia Lobzhanidze on 27 April 2004 concluded that the injuries he sustained were consistent with his account. The report further indicated that the men had been injured by a solid blunt object. Traces of an electric wire was also detected near Valeri Kurtanidze’s ear. At present Gia Lobzhanidze and Valeri Kurtanidze are detained in Prison No. 1. When the Special Rapporteur visited Mr. Lobzhanidze in his crowded pretrial cell at Prison No. 1 on 22 February 2005, he refused to speak with the Special Rapporteur, even in private, and it was apparent that he was still afraid to speak of his experience. 6. The Government reported that on 1 May 2004, the director of Prison No. 1 notified the Didube-Chughureti District Investigative Unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that Gia Lobzhanidze had been brought to the prison with injuries. The director cited a prison medical report which indicated that there were injuries on both edges of his tongue and on his right foot. It was not deemed necessary to provide medical treatment. The report also indicated that several small bruises were visible on Valeri Kurtandize. Upon receipt of this notification an investigation was begun, in the course of which Gia Lobzhanidze and Valeri Kurtanidze stated that their injuries had been sustained before their arrest, that they had no complaints against the police and that they had never been subjected to ill-treatment while in the isolator. Since the beginning of the investigation in May 2004, they exercised their right to remain silent and refused to provide any explanations regarding their injuries. Only on 7 and 8 July, when they were interrogated in relation to charges against them, did they claim that they had been subjected to physical pressure at the Isolator of Temporary Arrest of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in the prison, and were able to identify the perpetrators. They had an opportunity to raise the question of torture at their initial court hearing on 24 April 2004, and the court would have given due regard to their health status had they done so. Concerning the allegation that Gia Lobzhanidze was forced to write his confession with his right hand although he was left-handed, since there is no legal requirement to write a confession by hand, compelling a detainee to do so would not have been necessary. Concerning the allegations that the policemen sought to forcibly obtain confessions, no such confessions appear in their case files. As there were three defendants involved in the suspected offences, it begs the question why only two of