E/CN.4/1993/62 page 91 enforcement of the 1962 Foreign Missionary Society Act which prohibits the building of churches, church facilities and schools and imposes severe restrictions on the organization of Christian religious activities. The interpretation allegedly being given to this Act makes all churches ’foreign organizations’. Numerous churches are said to have been closed as a result of its enforcement. Persons holding religious services in private homes after the closure of churches allegedly risk imprisonment. Christmas and Easter processions, the ringing of church bells and the carrying of crosses and Christian banners have reportedly been prohibited. More than 30 Roman Catholic centres are said to have been closed since 1989. In 1989, the Governor and Municipal Council of Kordofan reportedly ordered the closure and subsequent destruction of the village church in Rokaab for lack of a special authorization (tasdiq). Several Coptic churches have allegedly been closed or burned recently. The Catholic parish church in El Nahud was reportedly closed on 24 May 1992 by the State security forces for lack of original documents granting permission for the church to operate. Christian religious personnel and institutions are also said to have been subjected to increasing pressure, harassment and intimidation. The freedom of movement of Christian clergy within the country has been restricted. In 1991, a three-member council composed of persons from the Ministry of Information, Ministry of Security and the Ministry of Religious Affairs was reportedly created in order to oversee the issuance of visas for exit from and entry into Sudan. It has been alleged that since the creation of this council, the number of visas issued to Christian clergy has decreased. This is said to have been the case particularly with regard to requests made by members of the clergy to attend international religious conferences. Visas were either not delivered or were issued too late, thus preventing them from travelling. Numerous Christian clergymen have allegedly been detained, interrogated and on occasion beaten by members of both the national and military security forces. In 1983, a Catholic priest is said to have been arrested, beaten severely and flogged in public because he was carrying wine for communion. Pastor Mattaboush who was arrested in 1986 and sentenced in 1987 to 30 years of imprisonment by a military court is said to have been transferred to detention in solitary confinement for preaching in prison. It has also been alleged that non-Muslim prisoners have been pressured to convert to Islam with the promise of release and financial remuneration in a number of prisons. Mr. George Yustus, a pilot who belonged to the Coptic Christian faith was sentenced to death on 24 December 1989 and reportedly asked to convert to Islam if he wanted to save his life. Mr. Yustus was executed on 5 February 1990 after having refused to recant his faith. The Government is recently said to have expelled the last 12 Catholic missionaries from the city of Juba and missionaries were also allegedly expelled from South Kordofan. A Catholic priest and three members of his staff were reportedly imprisoned in Dongola, in northern Sudan. The preaching of Christianity has allegedly been stopped, the parish priest expelled and church property confiscated in the town of Damazin. The church in Al-Dien village has been burned. It has been alleged that missionaries working in El Obeid, Juba and Torit have been subjected increasingly to harassment and