A/HRC/13/66 police to arrest a person without a warrant if caught in the act or immediately after committing an offence, was generally used for detaining people who participated in demonstrations, without any evidence of being associated with the commission of a crime. In addition, on the basis of decree 011-2009 hundreds of people were arrested for breaking curfew provisions. The curfew schedule was frequently modified and changes were announced only in the media; under these circumstances, it was often difficult to know whether and when the curfew was in force. The questionable legality of the emergency provisions and non-compliance with the principles of necessity and legitimacy rendered those arrests illegal and/or arbitrary. In addition, the number of arrests showed a deliberate attempt to intimidate and suppress expressions of support for President Zelaya. 36. Some individuals were held in unofficial detention sites, with no separation of women and children from men. On 22 September, a day after President Zelaya returned to the country, 129 people, including 8 women and 8 children, were arrested for participating in demonstrations in his support, and taken to the Chochi Sosa baseball stadium, where they were kept for periods of between four and six hours. 37. Forensic doctors visited people who had been severely beaten hours after their detention. On several occasions, it was the medical personnel accompanying the FNRG, or NGOs, rather than the competent authorities, who provided care to injured detainees. 38. The common crimes unit of the Fiscalía initiated proceedings against 89 people arrested by the police and/or the army.15 About two-thirds of them were charged with the crime of sedition and a few others with “illicit assembly”. Other charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence. Nevertheless, these charges appear either groundless, or at best inconsistent or disproportionate, considering that protest rallies were generally non-violent and no information seems to have emerged about — nor have there been any proceedings against — demonstrators carrying weapons or explosives, with the sole exception of a person accused of possessing a “Molotov cocktail bomb”. On 30 September, 52 peasants, including 8 women, who had peacefully occupied the National Agrarian Institute building in Tegucigalpa, were arrested and indicted for sedition, after they had peacefully left the premises. 39. The police and military forces arrested a large number of foreigners, mostly nationals of countries who supported the reinstatement of President Zelaya, such as Nicaragua and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, reportedly on national security grounds.16 Many of them were expelled from the country and others were subject to fines and/or were victims of ill-treatment, such as insults and deprivation of basic necessities, including food and water. 40. Despite what appears to be a systematic violation of the right to liberty, the institutional response has been insufficient. The special prosecutor for human rights stated that only 13 investigations had been initiated and that only four police agents had been formally charged in connection with arbitrary deprivation of liberty. In addition, the Fiscalía initiated proceedings against two local police commanders for the illegal detention of seven men and four women on 31 July in Santa Rosa of Copán. Charges were later dismissed. 15 16 10 However, the mission collected other official documents which confirm that these figures are incomplete while NGOs reported that proceedings had been initiated against 100 individuals (COFADEH report, see footnote 10 above). The National Migration Department stated that between 28 June and 30 July, 124 foreigners were arrested, 76 of whom were Nicaraguan. GE.10-11700