578. In addition, members of the Committee wished to know whether there was any procedure for appeal against an expulsion order; what the provisions were of the law currently in force regulating the right to leave and return; whether visa applications were still rejected on the basis of protecting State secrets or in the citizen's own best interests; whether restrictions existed on the movement of foreign journalists; what authority was competent to expel aliens and whether its decisions were subject to appeal; whether citizens of Mongolia were free to travel and live wherever they wished in the country; what the regulations were governing the issuance and possession of passports; how the new law governing the freedom of religion differed from the previous law; whether any measures had been taken to restore religious property that had been confiscated; and whether television and radio broadcasting was still a State monopoly. They also wished to know whether voting was compulsory; whether political parties in opposition played any role in the Government; what constituted lawful criticism of the State; whether there were procedures to appeal a refusal to license new publications; what role local authorities played in authorising or prohibiting a meeting; what was meant by the statement in the report that a meeting or demonstration could be postponed if its aim was contrary to the "unity of the Mongolian people"; whether there were any procedures to appeal denial of permission to hold meetings; and how the rights of the Chinese minority in the country were being protected. 579. In reply, the representative of the State $arty said that laws regulating entry and departure were in the process of being significantly amended and that the system referred to in paragraph 46 of the report was no longer applied. The Act on the Rights and Duties of Aliens in Mongolia provided for the expulsion of aliens who harmed individuals or who carried out activities harmful to society as a whole. Although national security was still a basis for expulsion, there had been no instances of its occurrence since 1986. All restrictions on the movement of aliens had been removed but journalists were still required to apply for permission to visit certain areas. However, such permission was invariably granted and in practice, therefore, they enjoyed complete freedom of movement. Previous restrictions upon the freedom of Mongolians to move where they wished within the country had now been entirely removed. 580. Freedom of worship was guaranteed by the Constitution and a bill on that right was currently before Parliament. For the time being, a clearly outdated act remained in force. Following adoption of that act in 1934, a great deal of repression had occurred, involving the destruction of virtually all of the country's Buddhist monasteries and what amounted to pogroms against the monks. Today, however, there was no persecution at all on religious grounds. There had been no restrictions of any kind since 1990 on the freedom of assembly and association of religious communities and a number of religious schools had been established and were functioning smoothly. With regard to the right to privacy, the Civil Code was currently under review and new provisions would be included to prohibit interference in private and family life. 581. There were currently 14 political parties in Mongolia covering a broad spectrum of viewpoints. The present Government was composed of four of those parties in coalition and it was expected that another multiparty Government would be formed at the next session of the Great Khural. Parties were registered with a special body of the Supreme Court and there was at present -139-