E/CN.4/2001/66 page 58 batons inserted into the anus; having their hands stepped on; being strapped to a pole or hung from the ceiling and being beaten. They are reportedly applied when prisoners fail to go to bed or get up on time, cry or laugh, protest or answer back or fail to finish their tasks. It is reported that they are used particularly against Uighurs who are politically active or suspected of political activities. The Special Rapporteur transmitted information describing the use in the XUAR of metal helmets which are placed over the eyes of prisoners subjected to torture in order to prevent them from committing suicide. Finally, it is reported that 90 per cent of defendants who appear in court tell the judges that they have been subjected to torture in police custody to extract confessions. These statements are said to be ignored by the judges and the procuracy rarely ask to investigate these allegations. 239. In particular, the Special Rapporteur transmitted to the Government information concerning the following individual cases in the XUAR. 240. Obulkasim Yusuf had reportedly been arrested on 17 July 1992 by the Kucha county Public Security Bureau, and moved to Liu Daowan jail in Urumqi. He was reportedly tried in Urumqi in June 1993 for alleged involvement in subversive activities and sentenced to death by the Urumqi city Intermediate People’s Court. On the evening of 17 March 1994, Chinese police officers and high officials reportedly squeezed his fingers with pliers, pressed something into his neck, pushed needles under his nails, kicked his testicles and kidneys and stuck a prong up his penis. The next morning, armed Chinese cadres and police officers are said to have come to his cell and ordered Obulkasim to stand up. The other prisoners in the cell are said to have surrounded him to protect him and four persons were reportedly killed by automatic guns and handguns. When Obulkasim’s body was prepared for burial on 7 April, two bullet holes were reportedly found. 241. Abdulshukur Abliz Haji, the chairman of the Islamic Society in Gulja city, who was reportedly arrested in March 1997 and held in Urumqi, was allegedly tortured in detention. He was reportedly given injections. He was said to have been released a few months later in poor health but was allegedly re-arrested in early 1998 when he went to Beijing to seek medical treatment. He is now said to be detained in Urumqi. 242. Abidjan Obulkasim, a student who was reportedly tried on political charges in Kashgar in mid-1995, was said to have been taken to a “public sentencing rally” in a square near Aitgar Mosque in Kashgar together with his three co-defendants in September 1995. The accused reportedly had their hands tied and placards placed around their necks. They were said to have been escorted by soldiers. Abidjan Obulkasim reportedly shouted “down with the Chinese Communist Party, long live the minorities!”. A soldier was subsequently believed to have forced him to kneel down and to have banged his head several times forcefully on the ground. 243. Obul Kasem Imin, from Dol village in Lop county near Khotan, was reportedly arrested by public security officers in September 1996 for “speaking out against the Government”. In detention, he was reportedly kneed and kicked in his genitals. As a result, one of his testicles had to be removed in hospital. He was said to have been subsequently released and placed under house arrest.