E/CN.4/1992/17 page 41 Iraq Urgent appeals and Government replies 125. On 28 March 1991 the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Iraq concerning the following persons who had reportedly been detained on 20 March 1991: Grand Ayatollah Abul Qassem Al-Kho'i; Sayyid Mohammad Reza Mousavi Al-Khalkhali, aged 63; Sayyid Ja'far Babrul Ulcom, aged 56; Sayyid Izzaddin Bahrul Uloom, aged about 55; Sayyid Muhammad Taghi Al-Kho'i, aged 32; Sayyid Muhyaddin Al-Ghuraif; Sayyid Muhammad Ridha Al-Kharsan; Sayyid Muhammad Al-Sabzwari; Sayyid Muhammad Ridha Al-Sa'idi; Sayyid Muhammad Saleh; and Abd Al-Rasul Al-Kharsan. He further informed the Government that 10 of the Grand Ayatullah's relatives: his daughter, son, daughter-in-law and seven of his grandchildren, aged between 3 and 11 years, had also been detained the same day. The above-named persons were reportedly taken into custody by Iraqi Government forces when the latter were carrying out an armed raid on the Grand Ayatullah's residence in Najaf. Grand Ayatollah Abul Qassem Al-Kho'i was flown by helicopter to Baghdad where he appeared on television. It was further reported that the Grand Ayatollah, who was suffering from a heart condition, was being detained in Najaf, whereas the other persons mentioned above were said to be imprisoned in an unknown place in Baghdad. 126. On 19 April 1991 the Government replied, rejecting the allegations as "totally unfounded" and adding the following: "The people and authorities of Iraq hold eminent ministers of religion in great respect and would never subject them to any form of detention or harm. The fact that Ayatollah Al-Kho'i appeared on television and received journalists at his residence in Najaf constitutes irrefutable proof of the erroneous nature of the information contained in the Special Rapporteur's note". Israel Urgent appeals and Government replies 127. On 6 June 1991 the Government of Israel addressed a letter to the Special Rapporteur providing information on the following three cases of alleged torture transmitted to it in 1990: (a) 'Abd Al-Raiuf Ghabin (see E/CN.4/1991/17, para. 90): it was stated that following an investigation carried out by the authorities, the claim that he had been deprived of sleep for three weeks was found to be untrue. The Government added that during Ghabin's appearance before a judge for the extension of his detention, he did not raise any claim regarding maltreatment and that during the investigation he had retracted most of his allegations. However, he maintained that during his interrogation, the interrogator had squeezed his genitals, an allegation which was strongly denied by the interrogator. Ghabin agreed to undergo a polygraph examination on this claim, and the results were unequivocal: this allegation too was found to be baseless. The conclusion of the investigation was that there had been no deviation from the accepted procedures for interrogations.