2.2 Several murders of Basque refugees and attempts on the lives of others took place close to where the author was working in Bayonne. The author further states that the officer in charge of the Biarritz police station summoned him in late 1984 to notify him of his fears that an attempt on his life was being prepared and that the author's administrative file, which contained all the information necessary to locate him, had been stolen. He was therefore obliged to leave his work and lead a clandestine existence. Throughout the period of his concealment, his relatives and friends were continually harassed by the Spanish security forces. In June 1987 his brother-in-law was arrested and tortured in an effort to make him reveal the author's whereabouts. 2.3 In March 1991 the author was arrested on the charge of belonging to ETA and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for criminal conspiracy ("association de malfaiteurs"). He began serving his sentence in Saint-Maur prison and was due to be released on 13 January 1997. However, on 10 July 1992, he was further sentenced to a three-year ban from French territory. He filed an appeal against the decision to ban him with the Paris Court of Major Jurisdiction in October 1996, but no action was taken. 2.4 On 15 November 1996 the Ministry of the Interior commenced a proceeding for the author's deportation from French territory. A deportation order can be enforced by the administration ex officio and means that the person concerned is automatically taken to the border. The author applied to the Administrative Court of Limoges on 13 December 1996 requesting the annulment of the deportation order which might be made out against him and a stay of execution of such an order if it were to be issued. However, his application for a stay of execution was rejected by a ruling of 15 January 1997, the court having taken the view that handing over the author would not be likely to have irreversible consequences for him. An appeal from this ruling was not possible because the deportation measure had already been implemented. 2.5 On 10 December 1996 the author began a hunger strike to protest against his deportation. Later, because of his deteriorating health, the author was transferred to the local prison at Fresnes, in the Paris region, where he again went on strike, refusing to take liquids. 2.6 On 17 December 1996 the author was informed that the Deportation Board of the Indre Prefecture had rendered an opinion in favour of his deportation, considering that his presence in French territory constituted a serious threat to public order. The Board did, however, remind the Ministry of the Interior of the law stipulating that an alien could not be removed to another country where his life or liberty might be threatened or where he could be exposed to treatment contrary to article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Following this opinion, a ministerial deportation order was issued on 13 January 1997 and communicated that day to the author. He was at the same time notified of a decision indicating that the order of deportation to Spain was being put into effect. The deportation measure was implemented the same day, after a medical examination had concluded that Mr. Arkauz could be transported by car to the Spanish border. 2.7 By a letter of 17 March 1997 the author informed the Committee that his deportation to Spain had taken place on 13 January 1997. He reported having been ill-treated and threatened by the French police and described the incidents which occurred in Spain after his deportation. 2.8 The author claims to have suffered greatly during the journey to Spain because of his extreme weakness. He states that while being driven from Fresnes to the Spanish border, a distance of nearly 1,000 kilometres covered in seven hours, he was seated between two police officers, with his hands cuffed behind his back, and he experienced very considerable back pain because he suffers from degenerative discopathy. The police officers are said to have stopped at one point and ordered Mr. Arkauz to get out of the vehicle. Since he was unable to move, the police officers reportedly threw him to the ground and beat him. He adds 78