E/CN.4/1995/34 page 134 699. Baha’ Zaki, Ashraf Adli, and Magdi Chelata, Egyptians working on an educational programme run by the Roman Catholic Church of Khartoum, were reportedly arrested on 18 April 1994 and were being held incommunicado in an unknown detention centre (19 May 1994). 700. Ali Mahmud Hassanein, a prominent lawyer, was reportedly arrested in Khartoum on 6 June 1994 and was being held in incommunicado detention (20 June 1994). 701. Former security adviser Abdel-Rahman Farah and veterinary lecturer Hamad Omar Bagadi, both of whom were said to suffer from poor health, were arrested on 20 May 1994, reportedly in connection with a plot to overthrow the present Government. They were allegedly tortured and transferred on 31 May to a military hospital in Omdurman. Former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi was said to have been arrested on 20 June 1994 in connection with the same plot. The three men were said to be leaders of the Umma Party, which reportedly had been accused on a 20 June television broadcast of activities such as planning to assassinate prominent Sudanese political figures (24 June 1994). 702. On 7 July 1994 the Government replied by transmitting a copy of an article from the Sudan news in which it was reported that former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, after being released, stated that he did not believe that the other arrested persons had been subjected to torture and made statements under duress. 703. The following persons were reportedly detained at the beginning of June 1994 in connection with their trade union activities: Ali al-Mahi al-Sakhi, President of the Central Foundry Workers Trade Union; Ali Khalifa, Secretary General of the Professionals Union; Siddiq Yusuf; Mohamed Babiker Mukhtar, Secretary General of the Employees Union; El Hag Osman, trade unionist; and Suliman al-Khidir. The whereabouts of the six was unknown (5 July 1994). 704. Osman Idris Abu Ras, a prominent trade unionist, was reportedly arrested on 2 August 1994 and was being detained in a "ghost house" around Khartoum. Mostafa Abdel Rahmnan Mostafa had reportedly been detained since December 1992 and was said to have been transferred earlier in the year from a "ghost house" to Saukin prison in eastern Sudan. Hassan Hashim was reportedly arrested and detained in July 1994. All three men were allegedly tortured and their families had not been permitted to see them to provide them with necessary medication (24 October 1994). Information received from the Government with respect to cases included in previous reports 705. On 5 November 1993 the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal on behalf of Baha’a al-Din Abdul Gassim, who had reportedly been arrested in south Khartoum by four armed plainclothes security officers. On 6 January 1994 the Government replied that Baha’a Al-Din Abdul Gassim had never in fact been arrested. 706. On 15 September 1993 the Special Rapporteur transmitted an urgent appeal in the case of Mamoun Elyas Mohammed Ahmed, who had been arrested in late