There were further allegations of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officers. Judicial inquiries into such allegations were very slow but a few trials of law enforcement officers accused of ill-treatment were held during the year. In July the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (ECPT), established under the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to examine the treatment of people deprived of their liberty, published its report on its visit to Portugal in January 1992 and the government's response. The Committee reported that its delegation had heard "numerous detailed allegations of ill-treatment" inflicted by officers of all three law enforcement agencies: Polícia Judiciária (PJ), Judicial Police; Polícia de Segurança Publica (PSP), Public Security Police; and Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR), Republican National Guard. The most common form of ill-treatment alleged was physical assault, including kicks, punches and blows with pistol butts. The delegation's medical expert examined several people who had complained of ill-treatment and recorded that some of them displayed physical injuries consistent with their allegations. On the basis of all the information received, the eCPT concluded that the ill-treatment of detainees was a "relatively common phenomenon". In the government's response, dated October 1993, the Minister of the Interior, responsible for the PSP and GNR, commented that the ECPT's conclusions on ill-treatment appeared "manifestly excessive". He maintained that when officers who ill-treated people were identified they were "invariably severely punished". The Minister of Justice, responsible for the PJ, said that he had no knowledge of complaints about acts of aggression or torture brought against his officers in the past two years. However, at the end of the year the Ombudsman was still conducting the investigation, which he had announced in December 1992, into 32 complaints against the PJ. Many of them were complaints of the use of violence by the PJ received by the Ombudsman in the preceding 23 months (see Amnesty International Report 1994). There were further allegations of ill-treatment, some of them relating to previous years. Long delays were reported in inquiries into such allegations. In March Carlos Rebelo complained to the Ombudsman that the judicial authorities had failed to investigate his allegation of ill-treatment by the PJ. He had been arrested in March 1993 in connection with investigations into bank robberies. He claimed that PJ officers had beaten him severely in a Lisbon police station. When he appeared in court, the judge remanded him in custody and ordered that he be taken to hospital and a report made on his injuries. Instead the officers took him to a police station where a doctor recorded minor injuries. After repeated requests by his family and a delay he was x-rayed and found to have five fractured ribs. Because of the delay, his other injuries, such as cuts and bruises, had healed. He alleged that although he had complained of ill-treatment immediately after his arrest, it was not until June 1993 that the prosecutor requested documents relating to his treatment. These were then supposedly sent for investigation by the police. Carlos Rebelo said that he was subsequently informed that the documentation could not be found by the police. A new inquiry into his allegations was opened during the year. In April the Faro prosecutor charged four PSP officers with insulting and physically injuring a PJ officer. In June 1993 the PSP officers had reportedly stopped the PJ officer from entering a party because he was wearing a motor-cycle helmet. When he persisted, claiming official status, it was reported that the PSP officers on duty kicked and punched him in front of witnesses. The PJ officer and a witness, who was apparently also attacked, were taken in handcuffs to the police station. They alleged they were further ill-treated on the way to and inside the station. The PJ officer was charged with verbally insulting the PSP officers. In November, three trials of 12 GNR officers accused of assaulting civilians opened in the Second Military Tribunal in Lisbon. Seven officers were charged with seriously assaulting Francisco Carretas and a friend in February 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1994). The court suspended the hearing until March 1995 because one of the accused officers did not appear. The court also tried five officers in two other, separate, cases of assault. Two defendants were sentenced to seven and nine months' imprisonment respectively. However, the sentences were not enforced as both officers had already been pardoned by an amnesty in 1991. The three other officers were acquitted. Amnesty International urged the authorities to ensure that all allegations of torture and ill-treatment were promptly and thoroughly investigated and that those responsible were brought to justice.

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