CCPR/C/112/D/2046/2011 rights situation in the country in general and Saleh Salem Hmeed’s situation in particular. In response, the Gaddafi Foundation contacted the family on 13 February 2007, asking them not to attend the sit-in and promising to discuss Saleh Salem Hmeed’s case with the authorities. When the family refused, they received death threats from persons claiming to represent the authorities. 2.6 On 15 February 2007, some 50 security officers under the command of the director of the criminal investigation service of Tripoli, dressed in plain clothes and armed, stormed the family home, breaking doors and windows. They looted the premises, taking all of the family’s valuables, then removed those family members present and set fire to the house. In the process, the author, who was elderly and ill, was beaten, and her youngest son, Fredj Saleh Hmeed, was also beaten and arrested without a warrant. 2.7 Following these events, on 16 February 2007, the author lodged a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor-General for assault, battery, robbery and arson by the security officers. The complaint was recorded but no action has been taken. 2.8 Also on 16 February 2007, some of the security officers under the command of the director of the criminal investigation service of Tripoli who had taken part in the previous day’s operation arrested the author’s other sons 3 in their homes, without a warrant and without informing them of the grounds for their arrest, and brought them to the headquarters of the directorate-general of criminal investigations. 2.9 Following their arrest, the author’s five sons were held separately in complete isolation in small cells measuring only a few square metres, with no contact whatsoever with the outside world. During their detention, they were all brutally beaten all over their bodies, handcuffed and suspended by their wrists. They were also forced to eat with their hands tied. They did not receive medical care for this ill-treatment. On 22 February 2007, the author’s five sons were transferred to Al Jadida prison, where they were once again placed in individual cells and were denied medical treatment for the injuries sustained while under torture. The director of the prison personally notified them that they were “denied medical treatments on the order of the public prosecution service”. 2.10 It was not until 25 July 2007, i.e. five months after their imprisonment, that the ban on medical treatment was lifted, following a complaint by the author’s five sons to the National Security Court.4 The subsequent medical check-up revealed marks of torture, and owing to the seriousness of their condition, the doctor ordered an emergency examination and hospital supervision for Ali Saleh Hmeed and Fredj Saleh Hmeed. He also ordered the hospitalization in a psychiatric facility of Al Sadek Saleh Hmeed, who was badly traumatized. 2.11 However, these measures were not implemented. On 20 April 2007, the author’s five sons, along with other persons who were arrested in the same circumstances, for intending to take part in the same peaceful demonstration, were brought before the special court of Tadjoura in Tripoli and accused of “planning to overthrow the Government” and possession of weapons. The court referred the case to the Revolution Security Court on 24 June 2007. After a series of hearings, from which the author’s sons were absent because they refused to appear without minimum fair trial guarantees, were postponed on 20 November 2007, 4 December 2007, 8 January 2008 and 13 March 2008, they were eventually sentenced on 6 April 2008 to the following penalties: 15 years in prison for Al Sadek Saleh Hmeed, Al Mahdi Saleh Hmeed and Fredj Saleh Hmeed and 6 years in prison for Ali Saleh Hmeed. Adel Saleh Hmeed was acquitted on the same date. 3 4 GE.14-22374 I.e. Al Sadek Saleh Hmeed, Al Mahdi Saleh Hmeed, Ali Saleh Hmeed and Adel Saleh Hmeed. The author included a copy of the investigative police’s decision to lift the ban on medical attention. 5