CAT/C/32/D/148/1999 Page 5 2.8 The complainant outlines the recent political history of Sudan and claims that there is a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant and mass violations of human rights. He refers, inter alia, to the adoption of a country resolution in April 1997 by the UN Commission on Human Rights, according to which human rights violations in Sudan included “extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, detentions without due process, enforced or involuntary disappearances, violations of the rights of women and children, slavery and slavery- like practices, forced displacement of persons and systematic torture, and denial of the freedoms of religion, expression, association and peaceful assembly”. 2.9 In January 1998, the UN Special Rapporteur on Sudan reported that the authorities, security forces and militia were responsible for a broad range of human rights violations. In April 1998, the UN Commission on Human Rights again expressed deep concern over continued serious human rights violations. For the fourth year running, the Commission recommended deploying human rights field officers to monitor human rights. 2.10 The complainant alleges that although much of the religious persecution has been directed against non-Muslims, the fundamentalist nature of the current regime is such that many Muslims, including the Sufis, are not free to practice their own brand of Islam under the NIF regime. The Ansar (consisting largely of Sufis) have been subjected to government control with the confiscation of their mosques. In addition, Muslim groups critical of the government continue to suffer harassment 2 . On the political level, the complainant submits that contrary Islamist political opinions, including centrist Islamic parties such as the Umma are not tolerated. 2.11 According to the complainant, there is evidence that military deserters will face torture and death. Amnesty International reported in April 1998 that: 2 The complainant refers to Amnesty’s Annual Report of 1999 in which it reported that those detained in 1997 included five Imams who were reported to have case doubt on the religious credentials of Hassan al-Turabi, Secretary General of the National Congress and ideological mentor of the Government.