492. The Committee (CCPR/C/45/Add.3) 10 July 1991 (see considered the initial report of at its 1065th and 1067th meetings, CCPR/C/SR.1065 and SR.1067). the Sudan held on 8 and 493. The report was introduced by the representative of the State party, who drew attention to several developments that had occurred since the submission of the report on 3 January 1991. First, Constitutional Decree No. 4, which laid the foundations of a federal system of government in the Sudan and established rules concerning state budgets and revenues, had been promulgated. Secondly, a conference on justice and legal reform, attended by professionals and experts in the field of law and the administration of justice, had been held. The conference produced a number of significant recommendations relating, in particular, to the judiciary, the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney-General’s Office, penitentiary institutions, military justice, legal reform and legal education and training, and the drafters of those recommendations were determined to seek their speedy implementation. Thirdly, approximately 300 political detainees had been released on 29 April 1991, with only a few individuals facing specific charges remaining in prison. Finally, the representative noted that a number of steps had been taken towards the establishment of a political system of participatory democracy. In that regard, the perceived unworkability of both multi-party democracy and the single party model, as well as the country’s enormous linguistic, ethnic and cultural mix, called for the establishment of a system without political parties to secure popular and truly democratic participation in the decision-making process. 494. Members of the Committee expressed their understanding for the serious difficulties facing the Sudanese Government and their appreciation for the frankness and siucerity of the report. However, it was noted that the report was brief and incomplete and had not been prepared in accordance with the Committee’s reporting guidelines. 495. With reference to article 2 of the Covenant, members of the Committee wished to know what the status of the Covenant was under the constitutional decrees and, in view of the absence of provisions giving effect to the rights enshrined in the Covenant, how respect for those rights was ensured: whether the constitutional decrees applied to acts committed before their adoption) whether the Covenant could be invoked before the courts; how the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation had been established and to what extent it enjoyed the confidence of the people ; whether the Penal Code, which was based on Shariah. was not discriminatory in certain respects and if it applied also to the non-Muslim population: and, in general, to what extent that code could J>e reconciled with the provisions of the Covenant. Members of the Committee also wished to receive more information on the envisaged system of participatory democracy, particularly on the extent to which the terms of articles 19, 21, 22 and 25 of the Covenant would be reflected in that system, as well as on the historical, political and economic factors underlying the current problems in Sudan. 496. In connection with asked what had been the on trade union freedoms article 4 of the Covenant, impact of the de iure or as provided for in article -124- members of the Committee de facto state of emergency 22 of the Covenant and in ! ’ f ~ .F : i b ty E ’