CAT/C/31/D/188/2001 Page 11 5.4 The complainant also challenges the State party’s arguments that a Tunisian lawyer can be instructed from abroad to lodge a complaint. 5.5 The complainant describes serious encroachments by the authorities on the free and independent exercise of the legal profession. According to the complainant, lawyers who dare to defend complaints of torture are subject to harassment and other abuses, including prison sentences. As an example, he cites the cases of the lawyers Néjib Hosny, Béchir Essid and Anouar Kosri, and quotes extracts from reports and statements by Amnesty International, the World Organization against Torture, the International Federation for Human Rights and the International Commission of Jurists. He adds, also on the basis of these reports by nongovernmental organizations, that none of the complaints lodged by victims of torture over recent years, particularly following the promulgation in 1988 of article 13 bis of the Code of Criminal Procedure, providing for the possibility of medical visits, have been followed up. He also explains that, in certain cases, medical checks have been allowed after a long delay, once all traces of torture have disappeared, and that the checks are sometimes carried out by compliant doctors who will fail to find anything wrong with the detainees’ physical condition, even if there are traces of torture. The complainant believes that, in these circumstances, it would not make much difference to appoint a lawyer. 5.6 The complainant also cites as an obstacle the fact that not only is legal aid not an established practice in Tunisia, but that the procedures involved are not accompanied by the necessary safeguards. 5.7 The complainant also stresses that the lodging of a complaint from abroad with the Tunisian authorities is likely to be covered by article 305, paragraph 3, of the Tunisian Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides that “any Tunisian who commits any of the offences mentioned in section 52 bis of the Criminal Code abroad may be prosecuted and brought to trial, even if the aforementioned offences are not punishable under the legislation of the State in which they were committed”. The complainant believes that a complaint submitted by him from abroad could be construed as an insult against the regime, given that the State party has declared him to be a terrorist. 5.8 The complainant also explains that his situation as a political refugee in Switzerland precludes him from successfully concluding any proceedings that he might initiate, given the restrictions placed on contacts between refugees and the authorities in their own countries. He explains that severance of all relations with the country of origin is one of the conditions on which the status of refugee is granted, and that it plays an important role when consideration is being given to withdrawing asylum. According to the complainant, such asylum would effectively end if the refugee should once again, of his own volition, seek the protection of his country of origin, for example by maintaining close contacts with the authorities or paying regular visits to the country. 5.9 The complainant also challenges the affirmation by the State party of the existence of available remedies. He argues that the State party has confined itself to repeating the procedure described in the Code of Criminal Procedure, which is far from being applied in reality, particularly where political prisoners are concerned. In support of his argument, the complainant