Communication N° 188/2001 Submitted by: Mr. Imed ABDELLI (represented by the non-governmental organization Vérité-Action) Alleged victim: The complainant State party: Tunisia Declared admissible: 20 November 2002 Date of adoption of Views: 14 November 2003 Subject matter: torture of complainant by police and intelligence services 2.2 The complainant provides a detailed description of the different types of torture to which he was subjected. Procedural issues: exhaustion of domestic remedies; abuse of the right to lodge a complaint 2.3 The complainant describes what is customarily known as the “roast chicken” position, in which the victim is stripped naked, his hands tied and his legs folded between his arms, with an iron bar placed behind his knees, from which he is then suspended between two tables and beaten, in particular on the soles of his feet, his knees and his head. The complainant says that he was subjected to this torture for two sessions lasting more than one hour each. He adds that, during one of these sessions, his torturers also masturbated him to humiliate him and leave him exhausted. Substantive issues: failure to take effective measures to prevent torture; failure to ensure that acts of torture are offences under State party criminal law; failure to institute legal proceedings against those responsible for torture; use of evidence obtained as a result of torture; lack of investigation of the acts of torture and examination of the allegations of torture; sentence based on a confession obtained as a result of torture; cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2.4 The complainant also claims that he was subjected to “chair” torture, in which the victim is forced to kneel and to hold a chair as high as possible above his head, and is then whipped whenever he starts to lower the chair. Articles of the Convention: 1, 2 (1), 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 1.1 The complainant is Mr. Imed Abdelli, a Tunisian citizen, born on 3 March 1966 in Tunis and resident in Switzerland since 7 July 1998, where he has refugee status. He claims to be the victim of violations by Tunisia of the provisions of article 1, article 2, paragraph 1, article 4, article 5, article 11, article 12, article 13, article 14, article 15 and article 16 of the Convention. He is represented by the nongovernmental organization Vérité-Action. 2.5 Following this, for one month, in the detention centre of the intelligence service in Bouchoucha, the complainant was subjected to interrogation under torture, namely, the “roast chicken” position, until he passed out. He adds that, every day, when being escorted from his cell to the offices, he was struck across the face and hit with truncheons. In addition, according to the complainant, his family was unable to obtain any information about him and his mother was detained, for an entire day, in the premises of the Ministry of the Interior for having requested a meeting with her son. The complainant asserts that he witnessed torture being inflicted on other detainees, such as Zoussef Bouthelja and Moncef Zarrouk, the latter having died in his cell on 13 August 1987 as a result of the ill-treatment to which he had been subjected. 1.2 Tunisia ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and made the Declaration under article 22 of the Convention on 23 September 1988. The facts as submitted by the complainant 2.1 The complainant states that he was an active member of the Islamist organization ENNAHDA (formerly MTI). One day in July 1987, at 1.30 a.m., the complainant was arrested at his home, on the grounds that he belonged to an unauthorized association. He says that, while he was being arrested, the police manhandled his mother and beat two of his brothers with their truncheons. The complainant was held for 2 days at the district police station in a dirty cellar with no water; for 10 days in the holding cells in El Gorjani, from where he was taken daily to the Jebel Jelloud district police headquarters for questioning; and for one month at the Bouchoucha detention centre. 2.6 From the end of August to 25 October 1987, the complainant was detained in Tunis prison in an overcrowded cell with no facilities. 2.7 On 25 October 1987, the complainant was placed in Mornag prison, after being sentenced to two years’ immediate imprisonment. When the indictment against him was quashed, he was released on 24 December 1987. 2.8 Two months later, the complainant was questioned by the police for possession of a video cassette showing the bloodshed of 1987 committed 120