magistrate; it may also institute new proceedings, or conduct or order an inquiry into matters which have not yet been the subject of an examination. The decisions of the indictment chamber are subject to immediate enforcement. which caused material damage and loss of life over the period 1990–1991. For that reason, and also because it is in breach of the Constitution and the law on political parties, this “movement” has not been recognized by the authorities. 4.6 A complainant seeking criminal indemnification may appeal on a point of law against a decision of the indictment chamber once it has been notified. This remedy is admissible when the indictment chamber rules that there are no grounds for prosecution; when it has ruled that the application for criminal indemnification is inadmissible, or that the prosecution is time-barred; when it has deemed the court to which the case has been referred to lack jurisdiction; or when it has omitted to make a ruling on one of the counts. 4.11 The State party indicates that the complainant is making unsubstantiated allegations to the effect that “the Tunisian authorities have not criminalized these acts of torture …”. According to the State party, this allegation is given the lie by Act N° 99-89 of 2 August 1999, whereby the legislature amended and transposed a number of provisions of the Criminal Code and incorporated the definition of torture as set out in the Convention against Torture. Complainant’s comments on State party’s observations 4.7 The State party stresses that, in conformity with article 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the complainant may bring criminal indemnification proceedings before the court to which the case has been referred (criminal court or criminal division of the court of first instance) and, as appropriate, may lodge an appeal, either with the Court of Appeal if the offence in question is an ordinary offence, or with the criminal division of the Court of Appeal if it is a serious offence. The complainant may also appeal to the Court of Cassation. 5.1 In a letter of 7 May 2002, the complainant challenged the State party’s argument that he was supposedly unwilling to turn to the Tunisian justice system and make use of domestic remedies. 5.2 The complainant believes that the recourse procedures are excessively protracted. He notes, in this context, that the appeal procedure against his conviction in 1995 comprised 18 sessions, lasting from June 1995 to the end of May 1996. According to the complainant, these delays were entirely due to the authorities, who repeatedly postponed consideration of his appeal because they were embarrassed to have to convict a person—who, to make matters worse, was a political opponent—for illegally attempting to leave the country. He says that this conviction would in itself be harmful to the image of the regime and that this made it harder to hand down a stiff sentence. He believes that this delay in a simple appeal procedure demonstrates that the lodging of a complaint of torture—even assuming that such a complaint would be accepted— would be an even more protracted process. The complainant also describes how, when his name appeared in various reports by non-governmental organizations, including after his conviction in 1995, the authorities reacted by worsening the conditions in which he was held, subjecting him to mental and corporal punishment and transferring him to prisons far from his family home, and harassing his family, who were placed under stricter supervision. In support of his arguments, he cites the case of Mr. Abderraouf Khémais Ben Sadok Laribi, who died in police custody as a result of ill-treatment. According to the complainant, even though the dead man’s family lodged a complaint of intentional homicide against the Minister of the Interior on 9 August 1991, and even though the case received extensive media coverage, as a result of which his family received material compensation and an interview was granted with an adviser of the President, the case was closed without any effective 4.8 Second, the State party maintains that the domestic remedies are effective. According to the State party, the Tunisian courts have systematically and consistently acted to remedy deficiencies in the law, and stiff sentences have been handed down on those responsible for abuses and violations of the law. The State party says that, between 1 January 1988 and 31 March 1995, judgements were handed down in 302 cases involving members of the police or the national guard under a variety of counts, 227 of which fell into the category of abuse of authority. The penalties imposed varied from fines to terms of imprisonment of up to several years.1 4.9 Third, the State party maintains that, given the complainant’s “political and partisan” motives and his “offensive and defamatory” remarks, his complaint may be considered an abuse of the right to submit complaints. 4.10 The State party explains that the ideology and the political platform of the “movement” of which the complainant was an active member are based exclusively on religious principles, promoting an extremist view of religion which negates democratic rights and the rights of women. This is an illegal “movement”, fomenting religious and racial hatred and employing violence. According to the State party, this “movement” perpetrated terrorist attacks 1 The examples cited by the State party are available for information in the file. 124