UNITED NATIONS, April 1 (UPI) -- An independent committee monitoring a U.N. civil rights covenant has asked Sudan to submit a special report on its compliance with six articles.
Committee chairwoman Christine Chanet told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York Friday the topics Khartoum was queried about included the right to life, the illegality of torture and slavery.
The French lawyer said Sudan's response deadline would be the end of the year.
The 18-member Human Rights Committee, as opposed to the commission meeting in Geneva, wrapped up the first of its three meetings this year on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two optional protocols.
The committee previously asked the United States for a special report on its detention policies and on aspects of the Patriot Act approved after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, she said, and that report was expected before the panel was to meet again, in July.
The 1966 Covenant came into force in 1976. So far, 154 states have become a party to it.
