A/HRC/4/48 page 28 up his post immediately, joining the ranks of displaced persons. On 17 January in Cali, a mayoral candidate in Yumbo was murdered, and in Riofrío on 14 July, in the course of an attack in a rural area, a sanitation official was killed and a councillor from the same municipality was seriously wounded. B. Right to personal integrity 12. In 2006, the Office received reports of public officials who had perpetrated torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or excessive use of force. 13. In February in Honda (Tolima), 21 soldiers of the “Patriotas” Infantry Battalion were subjected by their superiors to serious acts of torture, including sexual abuse, on the pretext of punishing them during a training exercise. 14. Cases were also reported of torture preceding extrajudicial executions. On 26 March in Medellín (Antioquia), the corpses of two men showing signs of torture were presented by the army as those of ELN militia fighters who had been killed in combat. 15. In Ricaurte (Nariño) on 10 July, it was alleged that military intelligence personnel had tortured, both physically and psychologically, a boy whom they accused of belonging to the FARC-EP militia. The Office also learned that, in Medellín on 10 December, four young men, who had been detained by unidentified army personnel on charges of having attempted to rape a girl, were beaten up by the soldiers. 16. The Office was informed of cases of torture in police stations. In Tibú (Norte de Santander) on the night of 31 December 2005-1 January 2006, five persons who had been arrested were forced to lie on the ground, punched, kicked, struck with rifle butts and hammers, and made to commit degrading acts with rag dolls. In San Agustín (Huila) on 6 August, several policemen allegedly beat up a person who was being arbitrarily detained at the station. He was nearly suffocated by a bag placed over his head and threatened with death. 17. Cases were also reported of the excessive use of force by National Police officers. In Taminango (Nariño) on 17 and 18 May, members of the Mobile Anti-riot Squad (ESMAD) dispersed demonstrators using firearms in an unlawful manner and making disproportionate use of tear gas and truncheons. C. Right to individual freedom and personal security 18. In 2006, the Office was informed of several cases of violation of the right to individual freedom and personal security in the form of enforced disappearances and illegal or arbitrary arrests. 19. The Office received several complaints of enforced disappearances attributed to army personnel. In Bello (Antioquia) on 1 June, a shopkeeper disappeared after being arrested by members of the 4th Brigade’s United Action Group for Personal Freedom (GAULA) who intercepted his vehicle and seized several of his belongings. An officer from the same unit intervened repeatedly to obstruct a police search-and-rescue operation to save the victim, whose whereabouts remain unknown.