9.6 The complainant maintains that his counsel refused to sign the transcript of the questioning before the examining magistrate, thereby proving the abnormal conditions in which the proceedings took place. He also notes that by its own admission, but by means of legal reasoning which he finds strange, the State party acknowledges that the examining magistrate refused his request for a medical examination because of the absence of any obvious traces of violence. The complainant explains that holding an individual in pretrial detention beyond the time limits laid down by law for the purposes of concealing the traces of torture, and then denying him the right to a medical examination on the grounds that there were no obvious traces of torture, falls within a pattern of institutionalization of torture. Lastly, according to the complainant, the State party thereby acknowledges that it prevented him from initiating an elementary and obvious procedure which would provide him with the initial evidence he requires. He adds that in his extremely serious case, in which he was brought before a court of special jurisdiction (the State Security Court), this refusal deprived him of the last resort which would have enabled him to defend his interests. According to the complainant, given the serious charges made against him, the slightest doubt and the slightest allegation of ill-treatment should have triggered a process of checking. Furthermore, the examining magistrate’s refusal to authorize a medical examination lessened the complainant’s chances of resubmitting the request to the court (even though the request was indeed resubmitted). 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. He explains that the actual conditions in which the visits took place—the illtreatment inflicted on the members of his family at the place of the visit and by the local police on their return home—constituted breaches of national and international standards. 9.10 Concerning the allegations relating to the provision of care, the complainant draws the Committee’s attention to the medical certificate contained in his file, pointing out that it was supplied only 10 years after the incidents as that was the first available opportunity. He also notes that the State party, while it accepts the existence of psychological problems, but only on the grounds of an alleged feeling of guilt and not because of the torture he suffered, refuses to produce the file which would confirm the extent of the regrets of which the court was informed. Concerning the treatment cited by the State party, the complainant demands the production of his medical file by the State party. 9.11 In relation to administrative supervision, the complainant considers that any punishment, including those provided for in the Tunisian Criminal Code, may be characterized as inhuman and degrading if the goal pursued does not include the reconciliation of the offender with his social environment. He notes in particular that he was arbitrarily prevented from continuing his studies, during his 10 years in prison but above all afterwards. He deplores the fact that aside from a remark on the resumption of studies, the State party contented itself with a blanket denial of his assertions, without any supporting investigation or evidence. According to the complainant, administrative supervision serves only to bolster the police’s stranglehold over the freedom of movement of former prisoners. 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. As for the State party’s endeavours to detect signs of contradiction in his acknowledgement of membership of the ENNAHDA movement (para. 8.6), the complainant is surprised at this strange reasoning, and explains that his conviction related to an alleged attack using acid, and not membership of the ENNAHDA movement. 9.12 Concerning the situation of his family, the complainant records the suffering caused by the police surveillance and various forms of intimidation, ill-treatment during visits and the denial of passports for a period of years, continuing up to the present. 9.13 Concerning the application of article 11 of the Convention, the complainant considers that the State party once again contents itself with a theoretical description of its legal arsenal and a reference to the activities of the Higher Committee on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, a non-independent institution. Citing documents issued by nongovernmental organizations,15 the complainant notes violations relating to the supervision of detention 9.8 Concerning the conditions in which he was held, the complainant considers that the State party is taking refuge behind legal texts in order to dismiss 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. He points out that the question of transferring him for the purposes of the investigation never arose, and calls on the State party to prove the contrary. 15 Alternative report by FIDH to Tunisia’s second periodic report to the Committee against Torture; communiqué issued on 20 February 2003 by the International Association for Support for Political Prisoners in Tunisia. 9.9 In relation to visits, the complainant considers that denial of visits constituted a form of revenge 143