CAT/C/52/D/503/2012 recognized the mayor and the municipal police commissioner of Bujumbura. They were accompanied by 11 unidentified individuals, some of them wearing police uniforms and others dressed in civilian clothes. The mayor, who seemed extremely agitated, ordered the complainant to go get the medical attendants. Four police officers then threw two injured persons, one of whom was covered in blood and could not stand up, to the ground in front of the emergency room. The reason the mayor was so nervous was that he had just been involved in a fight with some young people in a nightclub in central Bujumbura. The two individuals had been injured when the police stepped in to protect the mayor during the fight. 2.2 Having realized that the mayor planned to abandon the two injured persons in front of the hospital, the complainant asked him about medical coverage for the two individuals and whether he intended to pay the necessary security deposit. By way of response, the mayor slapped him hard, twice. Police officers then started to chase the complainant, who was trying to run away, and caught him. The commissioner shoved the complainant, and when he fell to the ground, started kicking him violently in the back and elsewhere. Due to the force of the blows, the complainant started bleeding from the mouth and was crying out in pain. Nonetheless, four police officers continued to strike him and to slap him across the face. During the incident, the mayor encouraged the police officers to continue the violent beating, which lasted about 10 minutes in total. In addition to insulting the complainant, the mayor ordered his men to “finish off this drug addict”. 2.3 Having heard the screams, one of the complainant’s colleagues arrived on the scene, realized with horror what was happening, and ran to notify police officers in the hospital’s prison unit. However, as they recognized the mayor right away, none of them dared to intervene. Having noticed that medical attendants were at the scene, however, and that they had seen the complainant’s bloodied body, those officers were urged to leave straight away. The municipal police commissioner then ordered his police officers to handcuff the complainant. His hands and feet were secured, and he was shoved into the back of one of the vehicles. Once inside, the police officers continued to beat him with the butts of their rifles, especially in the ribs. He was also kicked in the temple, which caused him to lose consciousness temporarily. 2.4 Before dawn, the complainant was taken to the criminal investigation police (formerly the Special Investigation Brigade) and placed in detention in a cramped cell, still handcuffed and in an alarming physical state following the beating. The police officers guarding him were ordered not to remove his handcuffs. His handcuffs were not taken off until midday on 18 October 2010, that is, after he had been handcuffed for 32 hours. There were approximately 40 detainees in the cell. Given the lack of space, some had to sleep outside the cell in an enclosed courtyard guarded from the outside by police officers. 2.5 On arriving at the jail of the criminal investigation police, the complainant had asked to see a physician, as he was in a great deal of pain from the injuries he had sustained, was bleeding from the mouth and was incontinent. However, despite his repeated requests, he was initially denied the right to see a doctor. It was not until the next day, 18 October 2010, that a doctor from Prince Regent Charles Hospital came to visit him and was able to provide him with basic care to stop the bleeding and to treat and bandage his left leg. The complainant was held in the same premises for four days, from 17 to 20 October 2010. He was never informed of the reasons for his detention, and no judicial authority ruled on its legality. Having been told unofficially by a police officer that the complainant was being held in the premises of the criminal investigation police, his colleagues visited him on 17 October 2010 and the following days to bring him food, since he did not receive any meals from the prison administration at any stage during his detention. During the first visit from his colleagues, the complainant remained handcuffed and needed help to eat. GE.14-04314 3