encourage the latter to proceed with their terrorist schemes and to defend their criminal members who engage in acts of terrorism by resorting to false accusations of torture. In other words, it might ultimately be interpreted as signifying that the Committee is indirectly encouraging terrorist groups not only in Egypt but worldwide. This is definitely not one of the objectives specified in the Committee’s mandate." 200. However, in view of the number and seriousness of the allegations of torture received by the Committee and considering that the Government of Egypt did not avail itself of the opportunity it had been offered to clarify the situation by accepting a visit of the Committee members making the inquiry, the Committee is convinced that the publication of a summary account of the results of the proceedings concerning the inquiry is necessary in order to encourage full respect for the provisions of the Convention in Egypt. 3. Conclusions of the Committee 201. The Committee notes that since November 1991, information on allegations of torture in Egypt has been provided mainly by: (a) reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on questions relating to torture; (b) Amnesty International; (c) the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights; and (d) the World Organization against Torture. Other non-governmental sources have occasionally provided information during the inquiry. 202. The Committee is aware of the fact that most of the allegations received by it have been made in a particular context: a wave of violence has developed in Egypt over the last few years as a result of terrorist acts perpetrated by extremist groups against tourists, foreign residents, Egyptian Christians, policemen, high-ranking officials of the army and members of the Government and the parliament. Those acts have entailed the adoption by the authorities of repressive measures such as the renewal of the state of emergency in the country until April 1997, mass arrests and severe penalties, often the death penalty, for those found guilty of terrorism. 203. The Government of Egypt states that it remains committed to applying the articles of the Convention in spite of the terrorist crimes that the country has witnessed - the aim of which is to overthrow the democratic system - and that it promotes the principle of constitutional legitimacy and the rule of law in order to counter those crimes. 204. Non-governmental organizations active in the field of human rights, while explicitly condemning terrorist acts committed in Egypt by extremist groups, report that in this climate of confrontation torture by police forces, especially State Security Intelligence, has been regularly practised. Torture seems to be used not only to obtain information and extort confessions, but also as a form of retaliation to destroy the personality of the person arrested in order to intimidate and to frighten the family or the group to which the person arrested belongs. 205. The Government of Egypt had the opportunity to make observations on those allegations both in writing and in meetings between its representatives and the members of the Committee making the inquiry. The latter were provided by the Government with statistics concerning cases in which custodial sentences had been handed down against offenders or in which compensation had been awarded to the victims. The Government states that violations of the laws prohibiting torture constitute exceptional individual cases, which the two branches of -33-