E/CN.4/1995/34 page 128 special operational unit under the Director of Military Intelligence which reported to the army commander and which had links with the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB). This unit was reported to be using a private house near a railway line at Vanawasala, near Ragama, north of Colombo. 669. The secret detentions were said to be carried out in contravention of Emergency Regulation (ER) 19(8), which makes it a criminal offence to detain a person in an unauthorized place of detention. The Secretary of Defence had recently published in Gazette No. 343 authorized places of detention. In addition, under ER 18(1), the army is required to hand over a suspect in the south of the country to the nearest police station within 24 hours of arrest. ER 18 also requires authorities to report arrests "forthwith" to the Human Rights Task Force (HRTF), a body entrusted to monitor the observance of fundamental rights of detainees. 670. On 2 November 1994 the Government responded by denying that there were secret locations at which detainees were held by military intelligence or the NIB. 671. The Special Rapporteur transmitted to the Government the case of Arulappu Jude Arulajah, who was reportedly arrested on 2 October 1993 in Bambalapitiya by armed men in civilian dress and was blindfolded, handcuffed, and driven to the army camp off Galle Road referred to above. At the camp he was allegedly kicked and beaten with fists, wooden clubs and pipes used in construction work. He was also allegedly stripped naked while his hands were attached to chains on his legs, a wooden pole was suspended between two tables and he was hung with the backs of his knees over the pole. In this position his genitalia were cut, possibly with a hacksaw. During his detention at this locale he was allegedly kept blindfolded with his hands and feet chained in a darkened room, usually naked. On 10 December he was transferred to Panagoda Army Camp, which reportedly did not appear on the list of authorized places of detention in the June 1993 gazette. On 15 December 1993 he was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Colombo police headquarters. The court of appeal was said to have ordered a medical examination pursuant to a habeas corpus petition, the result of which was unknown. 672. The Government replied that Arulappu Jude Arulajah had been examined by a physician, on order of the court of appeal and that the medical report did not reveal an injury, old or new, in the region of his genitals. The habeas corpus application was withdrawn on 16 March 1994, as by then he had been released. The Panagoda army camp was in fact an authorized place of detention under the Emergency Regulations, having been so ordered on 1 October 1993 and published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 806/6 of 15 February 1994. 673. The Special Rapporteur also advised the Government that he had received reports indicating that ill-treatment and torture were used against Tamil detainees at police stations in order to get persons to confess to involvement with the LTTE. The reports described incidents of beatings at police stations of prisoners in their cells, inflicted randomly or for alleged minor infractions of the rules. 674. In one case, Somasunderam Sivaganesh was arrested on 15 October and later remanded to Colombo remand prison. On 5 January 1994, after a habeas corpus