CAT/C/52/D/477/2011 of the prison. His lawyers have written to the Moroccan authorities numerous times about the pressure and threats directed at him, his ill-treatment11 and the denial of medical treatment, but have received no response. 6.9 On 1 October 2012, the Criminal Division of the Rabat Court of Appeal upheld the complainant’s conviction and his sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment for violating the AntiTerrorism Act. The Court stated that “the court of first instance ruled properly on all requests and arguments for the defence. This Court therefore upholds all such rulings as meeting all the requirements of the law, especially in respect of the defendant’s claim to having been tortured, inasmuch as an expert medical examination was performed by three physicians, all of whom confirmed that the defendant had not been subjected to torture of any sort. The Court therefore finds that the verdict handed down by the criminal court of first instance was justified and thus upholds it on appeal as set forth herein.”12 The Court also upheld the sentence set by the court of first instance and endorsed the reasoning on which it was based. In October 2012, the complainant filed an appeal with the Court of Cassation. Information submitted by the State party 7.1 On 20 March 2014,13 the State party informed the Committee that the complainant had apprised the Ministry of Justice of his allegations of torture and ill-treatment in February 2011 and had been advised to lodge a criminal complaint. A preliminary inquiry into that complaint had been undertaken by the criminal investigation department at the request of the Prosecutor-General, but the findings did not provide the Prosecutor with a basis for opening an investigation. At the insistence of the complainant, the public prosecutor’s office ordered two additional measures in December 2011: another interview with the criminal investigation department and a forensic medical examination. The evidence collected by these means was transmitted to the complainant in April 2012. 7.2 The Moroccan authorities have devoted a great deal of attention to this complaint in the course of a constructive exchange of information with United Nations human rights mechanisms. Within this framework, the Special Rapporteur on torture, accompanied by a physician, spoke to the complainant on 20 September 2012 at Salé Prison. Other special procedures have also considered the complainant’s case. 7.3 In response to the allegations which were made by the Special Rapporteur and which were formally communicated to the authorities on 4 December 2012, members of the National Human Rights Council and three physicians went to Salé Prison on 25 and 26 December 2012 to investigate the claims that the complainant had been tortured in police custody and the allegations concerning the use of ill-treatment, duress and intimidation by prison officials. The administrators of the prison had already begun to look into the matter before the visit by members of the National Human Rights Council. 11 12 13 12 (cigarette burns, signs that he had been beaten on the soles of both feet, that he had been bound up tightly and hung by his wrists, and that electric shocks had been applied to his testicles). The physician also found that the complainant’s description of his symptoms after being subjected to torture and ill-treatment was entirely compatible with his claims and with the types of practices and methods described and the claims made by other witnesses whom the Special Rapporteur met in other places of detention and who were unknown to Mr. Aarrass. A list of the letters is included in the Committee’s case file. According to a French translation of the judgement provided to the Committee by the complainant. Reminders were sent to the State party by the Committee on 15 June 2012, 15 August 2012, 11 October 2012, 6 December 2012, 21 December 2012 and 25 February 2014, inviting it to submit its observations on the merits. GE.14-06421