47. In accordance with the decision taken by the Committee at its fourth session, 2/ country rapporteurs and alternate rapporteurs were designated by the Chairman, in consultation with the members of the Committee during sessions and the Secretariat, for each of the reports submitted by States parties and considered by the Committee at its ninth and tenth sessions. The list of those reports and the names of the country rapporteurs and their alternates for each of them appear in annex IV to the present report. 48. In connection with its consideration of reports, the Committee also had before it the following documents: (a) Status of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and reservations and declarations under the Convention (CAT/C/2/Rev.2); (b) General guidelines regarding the form and contents of initial reports to be submitted by States parties under article 19 of the Convention (CAT/C/4/Rev.2); (c) General guidelines regarding the form and contents of periodic reports to be submitted by States parties under article 19 of the Convention (CAT/C/14). 49. The following sections, arranged on a country-by-country basis according to the sequence followed by the Committee in its consideration of the reports, contain summaries based on the records of the meetings at which the reports were considered. More detailed information is contained in the reports submitted by the States parties and in the summary records of the relevant meetings of the Committee. Afghanistan 50. The Committee considered the initial report of Afghanistan (CAT/C/5/Add.31) at its 120th and 121st meetings, on 10 November 1992 (see CAT/C/SR.120 and 121). 51. The report was introduced by the representative of the State party, who pointed out that his country was not always in a position to respect its international commitments on account of domestic problems and the lack of infrastructure needed to apply international standards. In that connection, Afghanistan would welcome any assistance that could be provided by the United Nations and the advisory services of the Centre for Human Rights. The representative drew particular attention to the fact that the report under consideration had been prepared and submitted by the previous regime, in power in January 1992, and that it had a number of shortcomings, particularly with regard to measures taken to give effect to the provisions of the Convention. Since the report had been drafted, enormous changes had taken place in Afghanistan and the new administration was combating social injustice in accordance with Islamic doctrine. The transitional government was facing difficulties due to Afghanistan’s internal conflicts, but free and democratic elections would help normalize the situation. A new constitution was being drafted which was based on Islamic principles and which would be in accordance with international human rights instruments. Measures were also taken to improve the judiciary and to prevent criminal acts in the country. 52. Members of the Committee recognized the seriousness of the problems Afghanistan was facing and recalled that under the Convention no exceptional circumstances may be invoked as a justification of torture. They generally wished to know how international law was currently incorporated into domestic law, whether the Constitution quoted in the report was still in force, how the legal system of criminal law operated in Afghanistan, to what extent Islamic law -11-