E/CN.4/1997/7 page 23 first-hand information would help him to assess the situation regarding the use of torture against East Timorese and to better evaluate the information he regularly received from other sources, in particular non-governmental organizations. Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur visited Lisbon on 5 and 6 September 1996, during which he received the testimony of alleged victims as well as information from non-governmental organizations. 96. By the same letter, the Special Rapporteur provided the Government with a summary of allegations he had received during his visit. According to non-governmental sources, the use of torture against suspected supporters of the East Timorese resistance movement was widespread, despite the fact that it was prohibited under the Indonesian Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and various ministerial regulations. Torture was allegedly carried out by the military, most frequently by members of the SGI (Special Intelligence Unit) forces, as well as the police, especially in East Timor, but also in Jakarta or other cities in Indonesia where the activists might be arrested. Few of the persons arrested were reportedly brought before a judge or prosecuted and, in any event, judges did not normally take into consideration allegations of torture made by those being prosecuted, who themselves were frequently not assisted by defence lawyers. It was also reported that torture usually occurred during the first hours or days following the arrest, during which time the detainees were deprived of contact with their families and interrogated about their links with the resistance movement. Arrests frequently took place in the context of demonstrations or other acts of protest, even if they were peaceful. The most common methods of torture reported include severe beatings with fists, lengths of wood and iron bars, kicking, burning with cigarettes and electric shocks. Although the majority of torture victims seemed to be males, reports were also received documenting sexual abuse, including rape, of women under detention or in other circumstances, such as when house-to-house searches were conducted. 97. The Special Rapporteur also heard 10 oral accounts of torture from the alleged victims, summaries of which were also transmitted to the Indonesian Government on 13 September 1996. In a reply dated 1 November 1996, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that seven of the persons from whom the Special Rapporteur had received information had never in fact been detained nor had they been involved in law-breaking situations. The police and other law-enforcement officials had no criminal record of them whatsoever. With respect to the remaining three alleged victims, a summary of the Government's reply follows that of the corresponding case in the paragraphs below. 98. Martinho Ximenes Belo, a student, was first arrested at the age of 12 in 1981 in Vatulari. He and his father were interrogated about his brother's links with the resistance movement at military headquarters (KORAMIL), during which he received a cigarette burn to his forearm and he and his father were beaten in front of each other. They were detained at KORAMIL for about three months, and then imprisoned together with five other members of their family, in Atauro island. He was released in 1986. In 1992 he was arrested again in Viqueque by military personnel but was not ill-treated during interrogation. 99. Moisés de Amaral was first arrested on 31 March 1982 in Vatularialong, along with 35 other persons, by KORAMIL personnel. All of the detainees were