A/HRC/4/7 page 8 assault by 12 policemen. Nine of those allegedly responsible, namely seven PNC agents and the two civilians, were arrested and are currently detained in the military prosecutor’s office in Lisala. 33. Two collective rapes were allegedly committed by a PNC commander and several PNC officers in two localities of the Bongandanga territory, approximately 400 km north-east of Mbandaka. On 18 September, six women were allegedly raped while being illegally detained in the PNC holding cells in Bossomelo, 412 km north-east of Mbandaka. On 16 October, the same PNC officers allegedly raped an unknown number of women in the village of Bossomokili, 390 km north-east of Mbandaka. C. Situation of children 34. During a mass arrest that took place in Kinshasa on 21 September, more than 800 street dwellers, including 181 children, commonly known as “shégués”, were arbitrarily arrested by the PNC and taken to the Police Inspectorate in Kinshasa (IPK). The arrests followed the demonstrations organized on 19 September by supporters of the Mouvement pour la libération du Congo (MLC), joined by street dwellers, to protest against the destruction of Vice-President Bemba’s television and radio stations. Following the intervention of the United Nations, all the detained children were released a few days later. 35. During the night of 24/25 October 2006, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three policemen in the municipality of Dibindi, in Mbuji-Mayi. Those responsible broke into a private residence to loot it and forced the victim to carry the plunder. The three policemen took turns to rape her, not far from her residence. 36. On 20 November 2006, PNC agents were deployed on Kinshasa’s central market and arrested street children (shégués). Some have contended that it was a continuation of the transfer of shégués to Kanyama Kasese (Katanga) for political reasons rather than a move to combat theft and other misdemeanours. D. The prison situation 37. Despite efforts to improve it, the prison situation remains precarious and serious. Detention conditions are on the whole deplorable almost everywhere, with escape being the prisoner’s only chance of survival. In prisons and holding cells everywhere, the situation is one of overcrowding, outdated facilities, lack of hygiene, food and medical care, and disregard of proper procedures resulting in illegal detentions. 38. The daily report dated 19 July 2006 of the OHCHR field office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo stated that in North-Kivu two prisoners who had escaped from the prison of the Beni Military Prosecutor’s Offices were killed by police gunfire, which also seriously wounded 10 other prisoners among the 19 who were trying to escape. 39. On 21 October 2006, 20 detainees of the Mbandaka prison, including 5 persons convicted for crimes against humanity in the Songo Mboyo trial, escaped.