E/CN.4/1996/35/Add.1 page 12 stabbed him behind the ears with ball-point pens. He was subsequently refused access to a doctor. He filed a criminal complaint regarding his ill-treatment, the outcome of which was unknown. Bahamas Urgent appeals 44. On 8 August 1995 the Special Rapporteur transmitted an urgent appeal on behalf of Leavon Williamson and Melvin Saunders, who were sentenced to be flogged. They were reported to be the first persons to receive a flogging sentence since corporal punishment was reinstated into law in 1991. Six of the 12 strokes prescribed for Leavon Williamson’s punishment were allegedly administered before the expiry of the 21-day period in which a defendant has the right to lodge an appeal to a higher court. Bahrain Information transmitted to the Government and replies received 45. By letter dated 26 June 1995 the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received information according to which persons arrested by the security forces for political reasons since December 1994 had been tortured in order to extract information or "confessions". The forms of torture reported include severe beatings, suspension from the limbs for prolonged periods and sexual abuse. At least 700 persons were said to have been arrested, mainly from the predominantly Shi’a Muslim districts in Sitra, Jidd Hafs and the Northern Region. The detainees were typically held incommunicado for prolonged periods, without charge or trial, in al-Qala and Jaw prisons. A large number of persons, including many women, were also allegedly beaten or otherwise ill-treated during house-to-house searches and peaceful protests. 46. The Government replied in a letter dated 25 September 1995 that from December 1994 to April 1995 Bahrain had been subjected to a foreign-backed campaign of terror aimed at destabilizing the country with the objective of creating a fundamentalist regime under foreign control. Under Bahraini law, torture is a criminal offence and aggrieved persons have the right to seek redress in the courts. However, no complaints about torture had been filed in Bahrain. 47. The Special Rapporteur also communicated a number of individual cases, summarized in the following paragraphs, to which the Government provided replies. 48. Haj Mirza Ali Abdul-Radha, the 65-year-old caretaker at the Al-Mashraf mosque in Jidd Hafs, was allegedly beaten severely by members of the security forces during a raid on the mosque on 20 December 1994. He died in hospital the same day. The Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) reportedly ordered his family to bury him secretly in the night and forbade the holding of any ceremonies. The Government replied that Haj Mirza Ali Abdul-Radha had never been in police custody and no incident involving a mosque was recorded on the date in question.