A/HRC/4/21/Add.1 page 46 forces and members of the Hojatieh and Fatemiyon pro-Government groups. The protest was being held against an order by the security forces to evacuate the community’s place of worship, known as Hosseiniye. The 173 individuals are reportedly being interrogated at Fajr prison in Qom and there are concerns that they are being tortured in order to force them to sign preprepared false confessions, stating that the protest had political motivations and was linked to anti-Government groups. The relatives of the detainees have been unable to obtain official information about their whereabouts and the detainees have not had access to lawyers. According to the information received, lawyer Bahman Nazari was arrested when he approached officials in an attempt to represent the detainees. 188. The protest began on 9 February 2006. On 13 February 2006, there were hundreds of protesters present in and around the Hosseiniye. At about 3 p.m. the security forces set a deadline for the protesters to evacuate the Hosseiniye. Members of the Fatemiyon and Hojatieh groups also reportedly surrounded the place of worship, shouting slogans such as “Death to Sufis” and “Sufi-ism is a British plot”, and distributed leaflets alleging that Sufis are enemies of Islam. The security forces moved in at about 4 p.m. and stormed the building using tear gas and explosives. They beat many of the protesters. The next day the Hosseiniye was demolished using bulldozers. Approximately 1,200 protesters were arrested and taken away on buses to unknown locations. The detainees were interrogated and according to the information received, many were subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Most of them were subsequently released. However, 173 are still being held. According to the information received, those that were released were required to sign papers as a condition of their release agreeing not to attend any Sufi gatherings in Qom. Some were reportedly required to sign documents renouncing Sufism. 189. Arrest warrants have reportedly been issued for the main Sufi preacher in Qom, Seyed Ahmadi Shariati and the four lawyers who had previously been acting on behalf of the group. This incident occurs amid concerns about an increasing demonisation of the Sufi Muslim group. In September 2005, a religious jurist in Qom called for a crackdown on Sufi groups in Qom. Some people were reportedly required to sign documents renouncing Sufism. Observations 190. The Special Rapporteur regrets that she has not received a response from the Government with regard to these allegations. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur would like to refer the Government to her framework for communications, more specifically to the international human rights norms and to the mandate practice concerning “Discrimination on the basis of religion or belief/inter-religious discrimination/tolerance” (see above para. 1, category II. 1.). Urgent appeal sent on 22 May 2006 jointly with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of judges and lawyers, the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture 191. The Special Rapporteurs brought to the attention of the Government information they had received concerning fifty-two members of the Nematollahi Sufi community and two lawyers who represent the group. They have been sentenced to one year’s imprisonment, a fine, and are to be