submissions without responding to the last two sentences of paragraph 7.2 of the decision on admissibility. He reiterates that the
theoretical legal options described by the State party are inoperative.
9.5Concerning the claim of inertia and lack of action, the complainant considers that the State party is inconsistent in holding that acts
of torture are regarded as serious offences in Tunisian law and accordingly prosecuted automatically, while awaiting a complaint by
the victim before taking action. He also re-emphasizes his serious efforts to demand a medical examination and an investigation into
the torture he had suffered, referring to the examining magistrate’s refusal of his request for a medical examination, and the medical
certificate indicating a neuropsychiatric disorder.
9.6The 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 pre-trial
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).
9.7Concerning 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.
9.8Concerning 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.
9.9In relation to visits, the complainant considers 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. He explains that the actual conditions in which
the visits took place - the ill-treatment 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.
9.10Concerning 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.
9.11In 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.
9.12Concerning 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.
9.13Concerning 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 non-governmental organizations,o the complainant
notes violations relating to the supervision of detention and police custody, such as manipulation of the dates when arrests were
recorded, and incommunicado detention. He notes that the State party has not responded to his precise allegations relating to his
detention for over two months.
9.14In relation to the ENNAHDA movement, the complainant maintains that the organization is well known for its democratic ideals
and its opposition to dictatorship and impunity, contrary to the State party’s explanations. In addition, he challenges the accusations
of terrorism levelled by the State party, which in fact form part of a complete fabrication.
9.15Lastly, according to the complainant, the State party is endeavouring to place the burden of proof on the victim, accusing him of
inertia and failure to act, seeking protection behind a panoply of legal measures which theoretically enable victims to lodge complaints
and evading its duty to ensure that those responsible for crimes, including that of torture, are automatically prosecuted. According to
the complainant, the State party is thus knowingly ignoring the fact that international law and practice in relation to torture place
greater emphasis on the role of States and their duties in order to enable proceedings to be completed. The complainant notes that
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents