the police and security forces and, if so, what measures had been taken to prevent their recurrence and what disciplinary and other measures had been taken against those found guilty1 whether any investigations had been carried out in respect of alleged disappearances of individuals and killings of persons in the course of military operations by the Iraqi armed forces and, if so, with what results; and what compensation was being made available in respect of casualties and disappearances in Kuwait following the events of 2 August 1990 and for damages resulting from the deliberate setting on fire of oil wells. 626. Recalling also the Committee’s concerns about events occurring in Iraq before the Gulf war, which constituted serious violations of the Covenant, particularly of its articles 6 and 14, members of the Committee requested information regarding the reported manufacture of nuclear weapons in Iraq and the alleged use of chemical weapons by the army in 1987 against the population of Ralabja and about the current status of Mr, Jan Richtes, a foreigner who had been tried in Iraq in 1987. It was also observed that while the report referred to Iraq’s full cooperation with the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on summary or arbitrary executions, it said nothing about the measures the Government had taken to prevent the practice of arbitrary and extrajudicial executions to which the Special Rapporteur had drawn attention. The report was also largely silent about measures adopted to ensure protection of the right to life in connection with the recent “riots”, although it was clear that the taking of hostages, the killing of hundreds of civilians in the Kirkuk region or the massive aerial bombardments in the Kurdish sector could not be considered as actions appropriate to dealing with riots. In the foregoing connection, information was requested on disciplinary and judicial measures that had been taken against those responsible for such EKtE. Concerning the large number of cases identified by the Working Group of the Commission on Human Rights on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances that had not yet been elucidated, it was also asked whether appropriate investigations were under way. 621. In addition, members wished to know whether the expansion of the “most serious crimes” category under that emergency would be ended: what orders concerning standards of conduct had been issued to the military prior to the entry in Kuwait: what was the fate of persons who had been detained under instructions of the Revolutionary Court and how many death sentences had been imposed by the Court; why Farzad Bazoft and Jalil Mahdi Salek al-Nu’aimi, who were sentenced to death in 1990 by the Revolutionary Court, had not been permitted to lodge appeals: and why the death penalty had been applied to minors in certain cases at the end of 1981. 628. In his reply, the representative of the State party said that Revolutionary Command Council Decree No. 840 of 1986 was still in fOrCe but was undergoing review by a high-level committee. Criminal courts were obliged to report to the Public Prosecutor a13 cases in which the death penalty had been imposed for automatic transmission to the Court of Appeal. Prisoners under sentence could al60 appeal directly. Death sentences could not be implemented without the issuance of a Decree of the Republic, and sentenced persons also had the right of appeal to the President of the Republic. In the uncertain situation following the end of the Gulf war, Iraq had been obliged to use the armed forces to put down insurrections and maintain the sovereignty -152-