complainant explained to the president of the court
by describing what had happened before the military
examining magistrate.
28 August 1992 Sentenced to six years’ nonsuspended imprisonment and five years’
administrative supervision.
9.7 Concerning the allegations relating to his
confession, the complainant maintains that his
confession was extracted under torture, and, citing
the reports of CNLT, states that such methods are
used in political trials and sometimes in trials
involving offences under ordinary law. Concerning
the testimony of the prosecution witness Mohamed
Ben Ali Ben Romdhane, his fellow prisoner, the
complainant states that he does not know this person,
and that he was not among the 297 persons who
were tried in Bouchoucha court, and calls on the
State party to produce the transcript of the testimony
provided by this person, together with the court file,
to make it possible to check whether the court took
its decision on the basis of a confession obtained as a
result of torture. According to the complainant, the
reference to this witness is pure invention on the part
of the torturers. Secondly, the complainant points out
that, even if a prosecution witness had appeared, the
accused should have had an opportunity to challenge
his testimony or to confront him, which did not
happen.
15 September 1992 Transferred to Borj
Erroumi prison in Bizerte, where he was held
until 4 July 1993.
4 July 1993 Transferred to Mahdia prison (200
kilometres from his home), where he was held
until 19 September 1993.
19 September 1993 Transferred to Sousse
prison (160 kilometres from his home), where
he was held until 4 April 1994.
4 April 1994 Transferred to Mahdia prison,
where he was held until the end of December
1994.
End of December 1994 Transferred to 9 April
prison in Tunis; interrogated and tortured at
the Interior Ministry for four consecutive days.
End of December 1995 Transferred to Mahdia
prison; hunger strike from the middle to the
end of February 1996 to support a demand for
better prison conditions.
End of February 1996 Transferred to El
Houerib prison in Kairouan (250 kilometres
from his home) following his hunger strike.
9.8 Concerning the conditions in which he was
held, and concerning visits, the complainant
considers that the State party has once again
confined itself to brief and general observations in
response to his plentiful, specific and substantiated
evidence. He explains that he was transferred for
purposes of punishment, and not for any matter
related to cases pending before the courts, and in that
connection provides the following chronology:
20 March 1996 Transfer to Sousse prison;
three weeks’ hunger strike in January 1997 to
support a demand for better prison conditions.
7 February 1997 Transferred to Rejim
Maatoug prison (600 kilometres from his
home, in the middle of the desert).
6 April 1991 Arrested and held in the
basement of the Interior Ministry; 13 May
1991, transferred to Mornag prison
incommunicado.
27 February 1997 Transfer to Sousse prison.
27 May 1997 Released, placed under
administrative supervision for five years and
house arrest at Nekrif-Remada (630
kilometres from his family home).
4 June 1991 Handed over to the political
police to sign the transcript of the
interrogation, without being informed of its
content; handed over to the military
examining magistrate, then at 11 p.m.
transferred to the 9 April prison in Tunis,
where he was held until the end of November
1991 (including two months in solitary
confinement).
1 October 1997 Fled Tunisia.
9.9 The complainant explains that each time he
was transferred, his family was obliged to spend two
or three months ascertaining his new place of
detention, since the prison administration provided
such information only very sparingly. According to
the complainant, the purpose of these transfers was
to deprive him of the psychological and moral
support of his family, and thus to punish him. He
points out that the prison entry and exit logs can
confirm his claims. He explains that denial of visits
constituted a form of revenge against him each time
he sought to exercise a right and took action to that
end, for example in the form of a hunger strike. In
addition, the complainant’s family found it difficult
to exercise the right to visit him because of the many
transfers, the remoteness of the places of detention
1 December 1991 Transferred to Borj Erroumi
prison in Bizerte (70 kilometres from his
family home).
4 July 1992 Transferred to the 9 April prison
in Tunis, where he was held until 15
September 1992; this period corresponded to
that of the court hearings.
117
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