A/HRC/13/42* page 38 81. In Nepal, a number of suspected members of the Maoist Communist Party, which had declared a “people’s war” in February 1996, were held in secret detention.128 In the late 1990s, the increasing pattern of disappearances and secret detentions was communicated to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances by numerous non-governmental organizations. It was reported that police officers in civilian clothes were forcing people into vehicles and taking them to unofficial places of detentions, such as the Maharajgunj Police Training Centre.129 82. In Sri Lanka, the protracted conflict between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has perpetuated the use of secret detention.130 In general, Sri Lankan army officials, dressed either in military uniform or civilian clothes, would arrest ethnic Tamils and hold them in secret places of detention for a week or longer. One such location mentioned in the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture was an army camp located off Galle Road, Kollupitiya, Colombo. The detainees were often interrogated under torture, the purpose of which was to make them confess their involvement with the LTTE.131 In 1992, the Government adopted a law giving more power to the armed forces and authorizing the use of secret detention camps.132 Although the emergency regulations subsequently issued in June 1993 outlawed secret detention, there were reliable reports indicating that people continued to be held in undisclosed places where torture was practised, and no action was taken against the perpetrators.133 83. In the Philippines, the practice of secret detention or “safe houses” was not formally banned until the establishment of the Presidential Committee in 1986.134 These practices were not uncommon in the preceding years during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, especially when martial law was in force. 5. Secret detention in Europe 84. In Cyprus, enforced disappearances occurred during the inter-communal clashes of 1963/64 and the military intervention of 1974. Enforced disappearance as a phenomenon 128 See, inter alia, the report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, opinion No. 5/2001 (E/CN.4/2002/77/Add.1). 129 E/CN.4/2001/68. 130 E/CN.4/1992/18/Add.1. 131 E/CN.4/1995/34, paras. 668-673. 132 Tulio Scovazzi and Gabriella Citroni, The Struggle against Enforced Disappearance and the 2007 United Nations Convention, Leiden, Boston, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007, p. 69. 133 Statement by Mr. Bhagwati, Human Rights Committee, fifty-fourth session, summary record of the 1436th meeting (CCPR/C/SR.1436). 134 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture (E/CN.4/1987/13). See also the report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (E/CN.4/1987/15), para. 77.