A/HRC/13/39/Add.4 positions the victims were swung, beaten, or heavy devices such as car batteries were placed on top of their backs. Furthermore, they were sometimes blindfolded or forced to inhale candle smoke. In most instances, the purpose of the torture was to extract confessions or information; sometimes it was intended as punishment, intimidation or for the purpose of extorting money. 40. The Special Rapporteur received information and allegations from a wide range of actors, including lawyers, representatives of civil society and victims themselves, indicating that, in Malabo Central Police Station, torture and ill-treatment took place mainly during arrest and interrogation in the premises of the judicial police: For instance, one person described how he had cables from a car battery attached to his toes with alligator clips and was threatened with electro shocks if he refused to confess. Another man said that he had been injured with a stapler on his toe and finger during interrogation. A number of victims described how their hands and feet had been tied behind the backs and they had been suspended from an iron bar fixed on two chairs so that the face faced the floor; they then were forced to breathe the smoke of a candle held in front of their faces; some were beaten with a high voltage cable while in this position. Another witness described how he was injured on his neck, resulting from violence used during his arrest, when his head had been pushed down violently while he was being pushed in a police car. Another victim complained about pain in his thumb and forefinger as a result of the prolonged tight application of handcuffs. Other alleged victims reported that they had been injured with knives on their face, kicked, slapped, or otherwise beaten during arrest. When the Special Rapporteur visited these premises, he found several of the torture devices that had been described to him by witnesses in the front office situated to the left of the right entrance. These devices included a car battery, a starter cable, several iron bars and a thick black cable. 41. Similarly, the Special Rapporteur received consistent allegations about torture in Bata Central Police Station, applied during interrogation mostly at night in the interrogation room in the basement. Many interviewees explained how they had been hung up on handcuffs, suspended in various ways from a relatively short metal bar between two black tables, including the so-called “Ethiopian style” for prolonged periods; in these positions the victims were swung, or had heavy devices such as car batteries placed on top of their backs. Some described that they were beaten on the soles, the back and sometimes on other parts of the body with police batons, solid “rubberized” cables and wooden bars. Furthermore, they were sometimes blindfolded or forced to inhale candle smoke. Often this treatment was either preceded or followed by lengthy kicking and beatings, sometimes with truncheons, sticks on the buttocks and various other parts of the body while lying on a mattress. Some detainees were blindfolded during the beating. Several witnesses described to the Special Rapporteur how, after having been suspended and beaten, police officers forced them to climb up the stairs from the basement to the first floor on their knees because they were unable to walk. Effects of the various forms of ill-treatment described to the Special Rapporteur were heavy bleeding, the inability to stand, dress, etc, pain in the wrists, ankles, arms, shoulders, numbness in hands and feet, etc. The forensic expert found that, on the whole, these descriptions corroborated the allegations. When, following a lengthy discussion, the Special Rapporteur was allowed to enter the interrogation room in the basement of Bata police station, he found a mattress, two black tables next to each other, a special light of red colour, handcuffs and wooden and metal bars – all objects that numerous witnesses had described to him in much detail. 42. The Special Rapporteur received very serious allegations of severe and prolonged torture of Equatoguinean citizens accused of involvement in attempted overthrows of the political system, such as suspensions for long periods while forced to breathe in smoke, severe beatings with heavy cables and batons, the use of thumbscrews and electroshocks and solitary confinement for long periods. According to credible testimonies, this treatment 13