E/CN.4/1994/31
page 77
Jordan
Information transmitted to the Government and replies received
363. By letter dated 26 August 1993 the Special Rapporteur advised the
Government that he had received information regarding Husayn al-Jidi,
Fu’ad Shrifat, Basel al-Zaghlul and Sulayman al-Zuyud, reportedly arrested
on 20 April 1993 under accusation of membership of the illegal Liberation
Party in Jordan (LPJ) and of participation in a plot to assassinate
King Hussein of Jordan. They were first reportedly taken to the General
Intelligence Department (GID) in Amman; however, the security authorities were
said to have initially denied holding them. None of them, allegedly, were
allowed access to a lawyer, and family visits were only allowed in mid-August,
when they were being held in Zarga military prison awaiting trial. After
these visits the relatives reported that the detainees had been subjected
to torture while held at GID and that they still bore the marks of beatings.
364. In a letter dated 8 September 1993 the Government strongly denied the
above allegations and stated that the detainees had been accorded the full
protection of due process of law, including legal counsel and defence in
accordance with judicial procedures and standards guaranteed by the
Constitution. The cases were still under judicial investigation and the
trial had been scheduled to take place on 9 September 1993. It would be
open to the press and the general public, including the relatives of the
detainees.
365. In the light of the reply provided by the Government, the source informed
the Special Rapporteur that in October all detainees had retracted their
confessions in court, saying they had been extracted under torture. They had
stated that when held in GID Headquarters’ detention centre in Amman they had
been tortured by methods that included falaga and threats of sexual assault.
One of them, Husayn al-Jidi, had sustained an injury over his left eyebrow
requiring sutures, which he said was caused by beatings, while the prosecutor
suggested it was the result of an attempt at suicide by banging his head
against a cell door. The source also reported that the Court had not allowed
the detainees to be examined by doctors of their choice, as their defence
lawyers had requested, only by doctors chosen through the Minister of Health.
The examinations had not been conducted until the end of September and their
results were being debated.
Kenya
Urgent appeals
366. On 6 December 1993 the Special Rapporteur sent un urgent appeal to the
Government concerning the state of health of Geoffrey Kuria Kariuki, arrested
around 6 November 1993 during a police operation in Nakuru and taken to Nakuru
prison.
According to the reports, he had not received medical treatment for
acute typhoid, despite a court order dated 16 November 1993 requiring him to
be taken to hospital.
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