E/CN.4/1993/62 page 56 It has further been alleged that Sheikh Al Ahmadi, who was over 80 years of age, was hanged in Najaf and his corpse was subsequently left on the ground. It has been reported that any person who approached the body in order to bury it was shot on the spot. According to the sources, the son, brothers and nephews of Sayed Mohammad Ridha Al Hakim have been executed. Sayed Murtadha Ali Al Hakim, a clergyman aged 45, was arrested on 25 March 1991 together with his sons Hussein, aged 22 and Ali, aged 25. In addition, Sayed Ala’Al Din Bahrul Uloom, Sayed Ali Al Ala’Din Bahrul Uloom and Sayed Mohammad Safa Musa Bahrul Uloom, aged 60, 27 and 40 respectively, are also said to have been detained. According to the information received, Ayatollah Sadiq Qazwini, a prominent religious leader and scholar from Kerbala, aged 91, has been imprisoned since April 1980. It has been alleged that he has been subjected to torture despite his age and precarious state of health. It has also been alleged that Ayatollah Qazwini’s library of valuable religious books was burned at the time of his arrest and that his home had been looted and destroyed." 40. On 21 January 1992 the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations at Geneva transmitted the following information to the Special Rapporteur with regard to the above-mentioned allegation (E/CN.4/1992/52, para. 55): "1. The allegations made at the beginning of the note are a repetition of those made in the previous note dated 11 June 1991, to which a reply was given in note 353 dated 8 August 1991 from the Permanent Mission of Iraq at Geneva. The note refuted such allegations and explained some points which had been unclear regarding the so-called ’situation of the Shia community in Iraq’, the subjection of ’the Shia Muslim community to practices inconsistent with the provisions of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief’ and ’the situation of Ayatollah Al-Khoei’, in addition to the question of religious leaders and the method by which they are chosen at mosques, the monitoring of their sermons and other allegations. 2. Holy shrines and places of worship in the city of Najaf: The allegations to the effect that the shrine of the Imam Ali (may God protect him) was demolished by heavy machinery, such as a bulldozer, in order to open the Toosi door are untrue and unsupported by evidence. As for the killing of several children inside the shrine, we should like to make clear that on 23 March 1991, the shrine of the Imam Ali was a centre for insurgents and rebels, and that there were no women, children, elderly persons or other visitors in the shrine other than the insurgents themselves, who were using this sacred place as a base from which to resist Iraqi units. It was as a result of actions on the part of the insurgents that this venerable shrine was damaged. The tomb of the Imam Ali (may God protect him) did not come under any artillery fire; the damage which it sustained was caused by subversives. Reconstruction and repair work has been carried out on the tomb, in the presence of its keepers, by highly-skilled artists and engravers. The shrine