A/HRC/4/5 page 9 23. In addition, the police were allegedly responsible for various forms of ill-treatment and torture. The human rights section of BINUB reported such cases on a daily basis. In the province of Bururi, five individuals were reportedly ill-treated by the police at the time of their arrest on 8 October 2006. Other cases of ill-treatment by the police were reported in the commune of Kigobe/Bujumbura Mairie, involving nine individuals (including six suspected FNL members). Six more individuals, all of whom had visible marks of injuries on their bodies, including partial or complete paralysis of one or both hands, had been reportedly beaten/ill-treated by the police in Kayanza province. The seven others had been reportedly beaten by the police of the Cumba Zone position in Muyinga, in collaboration with the Cumba chef de zone. In the province of Kirundo, two detainees alleged they had been tied up and beaten respectively by the chef de colline and chef de cellule, upon their arrest. 24. Furthermore, the Forces de défense nationale (FDN) had been involved in violations of the right to physical integrity. These violations were committed sometimes during the arrest. For example, on 14 September 2006, a resident of Muriwe colline, Mubuga zone (commune and province of Gitega) was allegedly beaten up by two soldiers from the 22nd battalion of FDN. The victim was reportedly beaten with a stick and slapped. The soldiers claimed to have acted in self-defence, alleging that the victim had attacked them while resisting arrest. On 23 October 2006, around 8 p.m., the Commander of the military position of Village 3, Gihanga Commune (province of Bubanza) arrested two individuals for allegedly robbing a boutique. The two accused were driven to the military position where they were tied up. One of them was released earlier the same day but the second one who denied any involvement in the theft was kept overnight and severely beaten. The victim sustained serious injuries and has threatened to file a complaint for assault and battery. 25. The independent expert is very concerned at the increasing number of cases of torture registered during the reporting period. Reports confirmed that this kind of violation was widespread in the country notwithstanding the training offered by the human rights section in BINUB. The independent expert noted that administrative authorities and members of FDN were involved in many cases of torture during the process of arrest. He called upon the government authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. 3. Arbitrary and illegal arrests and detentions 26. Arbitrary arrests have been rising over the reporting period. They include cases of prolonged stay in police custody, detention in illegal places and lengthy pretrial detention. Some of the cases observed by the human rights monitors included people who were detained for minor charges upon instruction from administrative authorities, mostly commune administrators and Chef de zone and collines. These violations were higher in September 2006 after the signature of the ceasefire agreement between the Government of Burundi and FNL-Palipehutu. It seems that many young Burundians tried to register in FNL-Palipehutu, particularly in the northern regions, in order to take advantage of the demobilization process. Consequently, 87 minors were allegedly arrested illegally, of which 26 reportedly acknowledged being FNL members. A number of them were held in Ngozi prison before being transferred to Muyinga where the administrators of the respective communes were authorized to request their release. Among them were eight persons accused by police of attempting to recruit on behalf of FNL (of which four were transferred to Makamba), and two others who admitted to being FNL members.