on death row and the anguish and mounting tension of living in the ever-present shadow of death.” on death row, even if partially due to the failure of the condemned prisoner to exercise a remedy, cannot exonerate the State party from its obligations under article 7 of the Covenant. Consequently, my opinion is that, in this type of case, the elements involved in determine g the time factor cannot be assessed in the same way if they are attributable to the State party as if they can be ascribed to the condemned person. A very long period _______________ Communication No. 277/1988 Submitted by: Marieta Terán Jijón joined by her son Juan Terán Jijón Date of communication: 21 January 1988 Alleged victim: Juan Terán Jijón State party: Ecuador Date of adoption of Views: 26 March 1992 (forty-fourth session)* Subject matter: Ill-treatment of detainee the communication on behalf of her son Juan Fernando Terán Jijón, an Ecuadorian citizen born in 1966, at the time of submission of the communication (21 January 1988) detained at the Penal Garcia Moreno in Quito, Ecuador. Procedural issues: Notion of victim—State party’s failure to make a submission on the merits—State party’s duty to investigate—Nonexhaustion of domestic remedies Substantive issues: Right not to be tortured or subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment—Right not to be arbitrarily arrested or detained—Right to be promptly brought before a judge—Right not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess guilt—Ne bis in idem Facts as presented by the authors: 2.1 After two years of detention, Juan Fernando Terán Jijón was released; he left Ecuador in August 1988 and currently resides in Mexico, where he pursues university studies. After his release, Mr. Terán Jijón confirmed the exactitude of his mother’s submissions and joined the communication as co-author, expressing the wish that the Committee proceed with the examination of the case. Articles of the Covenant: 7, 9(1) and (3), 10(1) and 14(3)(g) and (7) Articles of the Optional Protocol: 1, 4(2) and 5(2)(b) 2.2 Juan Fernando Terán Jijón was arrested on 7 March 1986 in Quito by members of an anti-subversive police unit known as Escuadron Volante; according to the author, he was about to visit a relative. He claims to have been kept incommunicado for five days, shackled and blindfolded, subjected to physical and mental torture, and forced to sign more than ten blank sheets of paper. He was then transferred to the Garcia Moreno prison. The report of a medical examination carried out in the infirmary of the prison on 13 March 1986 records haematomas and skin lesions all over his body. Rules of procedure: Rules 85(1) and 94(3) Individual opinion: Mr. Bertil Wennegren Partly dissenting by 1. The author of the communication is Marieta Terán Jijón, an Ecuadorian citizen born in 1929, residing in Quito, Ecuador. She submits * Pursuant to rule 84, paragraph 1, of the Committee’s rules of procedure, Mr. Julio Prado Vallejo did not take part in the examination of the communication or in the adoption of the Committee’s Views. 2.3 The author was charged with participation in the crime of bank robbery, 76