E/CN.4/1994/31 page 110 525. Abdalla Barakat, a prominent member of the Ansar order and supporter of the banned Umma Party, was reportedly arrested on 12 November in Omdurman. His arrest allegedly followed a speech in the Wad Nubawi mosque, in which he denounced the alleged rigging of elections in the Khartoum Students’ Union. 526. It was also reported that in November 1993, students protesting the said election results occupied buildings in the university and confronted security police attempting to confine them to the campus. Rioting ensued and over 300 students were reportedly arrested. As of 16 November, 33 students were being held by security officials in a secret detention centre. (24 November 1993) Observations 527. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the responses he has received from the Government in respect of some of the cases transmitted. The information available to him over the last two years tends nevertheless to be consistent with the view expressed in the interim report to the General Assembly of the Special Rapporteur charged with reporting on the situation of human rights in the Sudan that systematic torture occurs in the country (A/48/601, paras. 41-50, 98). Syria Urgent appeals 528. On 1 September 1993 the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the Government on behalf of Hassiba ’Abd al-Rahman, who was reportedly arrested on 8 June 1993 at her home in Kafr al-Soussa, Damascus, allegedly on suspicion of having links with the banned Party for Communist Action. Since her arrest she had reportedly been held in incommunicado detention with no access to legal assistance. In these circumstances, fears were expressed that she might be subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Tadzhikistan Urgent appeals 529. On 29 March 1993 the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the Government on behalf of Mirbobo Mirrakhimov, former chairman of Tadzhikistan’s state radio and television company; Akhmadsho Kamilov, former director of national television; Khayriddin Kasymov and Khurshed Nazarov, television journalists. It was reported that these persons fled Tadzhikistan after government forces entered Dushanbe on 10 December 1992, but were all detained in January 1993 by local police in neighbouring states (Mirbobo Mirrakhimov in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and Akhmadsho Kamilov, Khayriddin Kasymov and Khurshed Nazarov in Osh, Kyrgyzstan) and handed over to the Tadzhik authorities. They were all reportedly charged with "conspiracy to overthrow the Government using the mass information media". According to the reports, they were being held at investigation-isolation prison (Sledizolator or SIZO) No. 1 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Dushanbe and had been severely beaten during interrogation. As a result Khayriddin Kasymov had reportedly