A/HRC/4/21/Add.1 page 74 317. On 25 July 2003, a contract interrogator apologized to a detainee for stepping on the detainee's Koran in an earlier interrogation. The memorandum of the 25 July 2003 interrogation shows that the detainee had reported to other detainees that his Koran had been stepped on. The detainee accepted the apology and agreed to inform other detainees of the apology and ask them to cease the disruptive behaviour caused by the incident. The interrogator was later terminated for a pattern of unacceptable behaviour. 318. As part of the investigation, General Hood has determined that the current guidance to the Guard force for handling the Koran is adequate although a number of recommendations for minor modifications are under review. The Government feels it is important to note the number of Korans (some 1600) which have been distributed among detainees to facilitate their desire to freely worship and the small number of very regrettable incidents should be seen in light of the volume of efforts to facilitate free religious practice. Observations 319. The Special Rapporteur is grateful to the Government for its detailed response. Communication sent on 3 April 2006 jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people 320. The Special Rapporteurs raised concerns regarding information they had received regarding the case of John H. Hartley, who maintains to be a Native American from the Cherokee Nation. Mr. Hartley is currently in detention at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility (NY) where he is reportedly unable to practice his traditional religious beliefs due to lack of recognition of the correctional authorities of his affiliation to the Cherokee Nation. According to the information received his mother is Native American and he has been practicing his traditional religion since he was a child. His mother has signed a “Verification Affidavit” that describes her son as Native American. Observations 321. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that she has not received a reply from the Government concerning the above mentioned allegation. She would like to make reference to her predecessor’s conclusions after his country visit to the United States of America in 1998: “Concerning the religious rights of Native American prisoners, apart from the recommendation made in the section on legal issues, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the positive and practical action taken in many federal prisons (fully compatible with security requirements, e.g. ending the practice of cutting their hair) should become general throughout the United States prison system and that steps should be taken to ensure, particularly through training, and perhaps through penalties for prison officers and governors, that these rights are not treated as privileges that can be granted or refused at the whim of an authority or official.” (E/CN.4/1999/58/Add.1, para. 84). Communication sent on 23 May 2006 322. The Special Rapporteur received information concerning Saifullah A. Paracha, aged 58, a Pakistani national who has been detained at Guantánamo Bay since September 2004. According