E/CN.4/1992/17 page 75 217. On 8 October 1991 the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Sudan concerning Haroun Abdel-Karim, who had reportedly been sentenced by the High Criminal Court of Al-Fasher, Northern Darfur state, to cross-limb amputation (right hand and left foot) after being found guilty of armed robbery. It was also reported that the sentence, which could still be referred to the Supreme Court in Khartoum, was the third judicial amputation sentence to be imposed under the new Penal Code. 218. On 25 November 1991 the Government replied, with respect to the case of Haroun Abdel-Karim, that this person had been charged and convicted by a criminal court of serious crimes connected with armed robbery. The sentence, however, had not yet been confirmed by the high court. The Government added that crimes related to armed robbery had had a devastating effect and caused great loss of life in Sudan in general and in the state of Darfur in particular. 219. On 4 November 1991 the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Sudan concerning the following persons: (a) Muawia Jaffar, a police officer who was arrested in Khartoum on 14 October 1991 by "Security of the Revolution" officers, reportedly after having prevented security officials from entering a sector of the airport for which they had no authorization. It was alleged that he was severely beaten and then dumped in a back street in Khartoum; (b) Zein Al-Abdin Al-Tayib Osman, aged 21, an unemployed graduate, reportedly arrested in the town of Sennar in Blue Nile province in early October 1991 on suspicion of distributing anti-government leaflets. It was alleged that he was beaten and subjected to electric shocks at an interrogation centre in Sennar before being transferred to hospital in Sennar where he is reportedly held under guard; (c) Adnan Zahir Surur, Anwar Abbas and Amar Abdel Khalig, allegedly arrested in Khartoum in August 1991 and since held incommunicado without charge or trial in a secret detention centre. Adnan Zahir Surur had reportedly been arrrested twice before. In the light of previous reports according to which people detained under similar circumstances were said to have been tortured by members of the "Security of the Revolution" while detained in secret detention centres, fears were expressed that the three aforementioned persons might have been subjected to torture. Letters 220. On 17 April 1991 the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the Government of Sudan transmitting information according to which over 300 political prisoners were still kept in solitary confinement in secret prisons known as "ghost houses". It was further reported that several of those held at the Shalla prison were in urgent need of medical attention. The following names were given: Abdelmoneim Salman, aged 65, a teacher, suffering from diabetes, blood pressure and gall bladder disease; Samir Girgis, aged 60; Al Tayeb Gedeiri, a lawyer; Ahmed Abdel Muía, a pharmacist; Al Tayeb Gediri,