2.6From the end of August to 25 October 1987, the complainant was detained in Tunis prison in an overcrowded cell with no facilities. 2.7On 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. 2.8Two months later, the complainant was questioned by the police for possession of a video cassette showing the bloodshed of 1987 committed by the State security services of Sousse governorate. The complainant was held for 15 days at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior and was subjected to interrogation accompanied by slaps, beatings and intimidation. He was released on 30 March 1988. 2.9According to the complainant, following the April 1989 elections, he stopped coming back to his family home because of a wave of arrests being conducted at the time, targeted in particular against opposition party members and sympathizers. The complainant claims that in 1990 his family was subjected to harassment (night-time raids, summonses for questioning and confiscation of passports). In May 1991, the complainant’s brothers Lofti and Nabil were detained and tortured in order to get information about the complainant. 2.10On 20 November 1991, at 7 a.m., the complainant was detained by the State security services. He maintains that, for the next 25 days he was subjected to various forms of torture. The complainant mentions the practice of “balanco”, in which the victim is held upside down and immersed in dirty water with an admixture of bleach and other chemicals until he chokes. The victim adds that his torturers tied a piece of string to his penis which they then repeatedly tugged in all directions, until it started emitting a mixture of blood and sperm. 2.11The complainant was also placed on a table where he was masturbated and then beaten on his erect penis. The complainant claims that he was given injections in his testicles, which caused first strong arousal and then intolerable pain. He adds that he was subjected to sessions of beatings administered by experts, in which he was struck on both ears at the same time until he passed out, and claims that his hearing has been permanently damaged as a result. He also claims that his torturers were assisted by a doctor, to ensure that torture was applied in the most effective doses. 2.12According to the complainant, on the twenty-fifth day, the Director of State Security, Ezzedine Djmail, stubbed out cigarettes on his body, notably in the region of his genitalia. 2.13On 13 January 1992, the complainant was taken to Tunis central prison. 2.14After appearing briefly before the judge, on 12 March 1992, the complainant was sentenced to two years’ immediate imprisonment and three years’ administrative supervision for helping to support an unauthorized association, and this verdict was upheld on appeal on 7 July 1992. The complainant submits a statement by a representative of the non governmental organization Human Rights Watch, who attended one session of the trial and states that his case was disturbing. 2.15The complainant states that his request for a medical check was refused and that he was even threatened by a member of the prison service with further torture if he dared complain of his treatment to the judge. 2.16After six months in Tunis central prison, the complainant was repeatedly transferred between different penal institutions in the country, including El Kef prison, from 19 July to 15 October 1992; Kasserine, from 15 to 18 October 1992; and then Gafsa, and others, which transfers, he maintains, were designed to prevent him from having any contact with his family. The complainant says that he was treated like an “untouchable”, in other words, he was barred from speaking with or being helped by other detainees; his mail and family visits were obstructed. The complainant says that his mother was always abused when she visited the prison - her headscarf was ripped off and she was summoned for questioning after the visits. 2.17On leaving Gafsa prison on 11 January 1994, the complainant was taken to the governorate security headquarters to fill in a report sheet and to answer questions about the activities of other prisoners and his future plans. He was ordered to report at Gorjani district police headquarters as soon as he arrived in Tunis. 2.18The complainant was also required to report for administrative supervision twice a day, at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the local police station, and to report daily to the district police headquarters. According to the complainant, these supervision arrangements had the practical effect of house arrest, accompanied by a prohibition on employment. In addition, several weeks after his release, the complainant was required to report for questioning by various security bodies, including the national guard station on route X in Bardo, the national guard investigation centre in Bardo, the intelligence service, the State security service and the national guard barracks in Aouina. These bodies all subjected him to questioning and demanded that he collaborate with them in monitoring members of the opposition, on pain of continued harassment against him and his family, through such measures as night-time raids and summonses for questioning. 2.19The complainant claims that, after he threatened to defy the administrative supervision arrangements, he was able to resume his university studies, but these were still severely disrupted by the repeated summonses to Sijoumi police headquarters for questioning, because of his refusal to collaborate. 2.20In spring 1995, the complainant was rearrested on the grounds that he had attempted to flee the country. He was held for 10 days and subjected to ill treatment, comprising beatings, slaps and threats of sexual abuse, in an endeavour to force him to collaborate. Under this coercion, the complainant signed a minuted record on 12 April 1995, certifying that he was an active member of the unauthorized organization ENNAHDA. 2.21The complainant was then sentenced, on 18 May 1995, by the court of first instance in Tunis to three years’ immediate