freedom to live within a social system Committee’s duty to ensure respect for of its own choosing human rights. with the 510. Members also pointed out that the Committee was composed of independent experts and never applied double standards in considering reports from States Its task was to assist all States parties in implementing the parties. provisions of the Covenant and to promote the universal application of that With regard to the issue of a multi-party system, members noted instrument. Governments were likely to that in the absence of political opposition, exercise their powers in a non-democratic fashion and expressed the hope that the Sudan would soon practise democracy. 519. Additionally, in the view of members of the Committee, certain punishments under Sudanese law constituted cruel or degrading treatment; domestic provisions regarding the crime of apostasy were not compatible with articles 6 and 18 of the Covennntt and Constitutional Decree No. 2 had been drafted too vaguely with respect to the Government’s power to limit political activities. 520. The representative of the State party reiterated that the Government attached great significance to the application of Islamic law in the country. The Government had agreed, in principle, to the establishment of a national human rights council and intended to request assistance from the Centre for Iluman Rights in that regard. The discussions with the Committee had been useful and the observations and suggestions made by members would be appropriately reflected in the second periodic report. of the initial report of the Sudan, the 521. In concluding the consideration Chairman also thanked the representative of the State party for his candor and cooperation. Regarding the question of the compatibility of the Covenant with Ifilemic law, he reaffirmed that, although the Committee sought, in interpreting the provisions of the Covenant, to take into account various cultural factors, it was obliged to apply the principles of the Covenant without any distinctions among States parties. He hoped that the second periodic report of Sudan would show evidence of progress in implementing the international standards set forth in the Covenant. 522. The Committee considered the second periodic report of Madagascar (CCPR/C/2S/Add.l3) at its 1073rd to 1075th meetings on 15 and 16 July 1991 (see CCPR/C/SR.l073-1075). 523. The report was introduced by the representative of the State party, who explained that a major revision of the 1975 Constitution, initiated by the Government and political groups, was under way. The report did not reflect this recently initiated process, which would lead to the adoption of a new institutional framework. Inbtead, the report aescribed the efforts made over a period oE more than a decade to comply with the Government’s obligations under the Covenant, despite serious economic and political troubles. The Democratic Republic-of Madagascar had never adopted the single party System. From the beginning, multi-party and multi-candidate elections at all levels had been the foundation of political life and universal suffrage the only