CAT/C/31/D/187/2001 Page 18 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 End of December 1995 End of February 1996 Transferred to 9 April prison in Tunis; interrogated and tortured at the Interior Ministry for four consecutive days. Transferred to Mahdia prison; hunger strike from the middle to the end of February 1996 to support a demand for better prison conditions. Transferred to El Houerib prison in Kairouan (250 kilometres from his home) following his hunger strike. 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). 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). 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 and the conditions imposed on the visitors - the complainant’s wife was ill-treated to make her remove her scarf, and guards were permanently present between two sheets of wire mesh about one metre apart separating her from the complainant.