24
OTHMAN (ABU QATADA) v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
79. The MOU states that either Government may withdraw from the
MOU by giving 6 months notice but it will continue to apply to anyone who
has been returned.
B. The terms of reference for the Adaleh Centre
80. The terms of reference for the Adaleh Centre (the monitoring body)
provide that it must be operationally and financially independent of the
receiving State and must be able to produce frank and honest reports. The
terms of reference also state that it must have capacity for the task, with
experts (“Monitors”) trained in detecting physical and psychological signs
of torture and ill-treatment and access to other independent experts as
necessary. A Monitor should accompany every person returned under the
MOU (“returned person”) throughout their journey from the sending State
to the receiving State, and should go with them to their home or, if taken to
another place, to that place. It should have contact details for a returned
person and their next of kin and should be accessible to any returned person
or next of kin who wishes to contact it. It should report to the sending State
on any concerns raised about the person’s treatment or if the person
disappears. For the first year after the person returns, a Monitor should
contact him or her, either by telephone or in person, on a weekly basis.
81. In respect of detention, the terms of reference provide as follows:
“4. Visits to detainees
(a) When the Monitoring Body becomes aware that a returned person has been
taken into detention, a Monitor or Monitors should visit that person promptly.
(b) Thereafter, Monitors should visit all detainees frequently and without notice (at
least as frequently as the MOU permits; Monitors should consider requesting more
frequent visits where appropriate, particularly in the early stages of detention.
(c) Monitors should conduct interviews with detainees in private, with an
interpreter if necessary.
(d) Monitoring visits should be conducted by experts trained to detect physical and
psychological signs of torture and ill-treatment. The visiting Monitor or Monitors
should ascertain whether the detainee is being provided with adequate
accommodation, nourishment, and medical treatment, and is being treated in a
humane and proper manner, in accordance with internationally accepted standards.
(e) When interviewing a detainee, a Monitor should both encourage frank
discussion and observe the detainee’s condition.
(f) Monitors should arrange for medical examinations to take place promptly at any
time if they have any concerns over a detainee’s physical or mental welfare.
(g) The Monitoring Body should obtain as much information as possible about the
detainee’s circumstances of detention and treatment, including by inspection of
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