2.9 The complainant states that, in these conditions, he was forced to make confessions and that at the beginning of September 1987, he was placed in the 9 April prison in a solitary cell and deprived of any contacts with the outside world. 2.13 The complainant was subsequently moved around repeatedly both within and between the country’s various penitentiary establishments. Thus, he was held in isolation with three political prisoners, Fethi Jebrane, Mohamed Charrada and Faouzi Sarraj, in the Borj Erroumi prison in Bizerte, from 1987 to 1992; from 1992 to 1993, he was transferred to a common criminals’ cell; from 1993 to 1994, he was held in solitary confinement in a small cell; and from 1994 to 1996 he was held together with two ENNAHDA officials—Habib Ellouz and Ajmi Lourimi—and then transferred to El Kef prison and to the central prison in Tunis, from 1996 to 1997. 2.10 The complainant was then brought before the examining magistrate in the presence, for the first time, of his lawyers. The examining magistrate would not, however, allow any exchange of information to take place between the complainant and his lawyers, refused to let the lawyers speak, dictated the prosecution’s case 1 against the complainant to his secretary, but was unable to get the complainant and his counsel to sign the transcript of the hearing. 2.14 The complainant says that the living standards and the treatment meted out to prisoners by the prison authorities made his imprisonment an intolerable ordeal. He refers to the prison crowding, the dirty conditions, the contagious diseases and the lack of medical care. He claims that the punishment cells in which he was held in the Borj Erroumi prison were extremely cramped, dark, with no water or WC, and very damp; his rations were limited to one piece of bread a day and he was forced to wear dirty, flea-infested clothes. He maintains that the political prisoners were subjected to discriminatory treatment, as part of a general policy of physical and mental aggression. In support of this claim he explains that he was repeatedly barred from having contact with others and from engaging in joint prayers. He adds that he was deprived of medical care, despite repeated requests, threats to go on hunger strike and his refusal to take exercise in the prison yard. According to the complainant, his family visits were restricted to 10 minutes and the women visitors were forced to remove their veils. The complainant adds that, in punishment cell N° 2 at Borj Erroumi prison, he was stripped naked and tied hand-and-foot to a cot for three days on end. He says that he was then subjected to this punishment again for a period of six days, after requesting medical care for kidney pains. In addition, the warders punched, slapped and kicked him. According to the complainant, in February 1994, the prison director beat him viciously while he was on hunger strike and had been placed in shackles and, in the process, broke his right arm. When the complainant returned from hospital, the prison director ordered him to be returned to the punishment cells, where he was left shackled for eight days, naked and without blankets, thereby aggravating his kidney pains. In El Kef prison, where he spent 10 days in the punishment cells, he had a blanket only from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., despite the cold temperatures in the town, with the result that for the last three days he was unable to walk. Finally, a few days before his release, he was placed together with 24 other prisoners in Tunis central prison in a cell measuring only 3.5 metres by 2 metres. According to the complainant, with only one 2.11 The complainant’s case then went before the State Security Court (Cour de Sûreté de l’Etat), where it continued for an entire month and, according to the complainant, was unanimously regarded by the international press as a complete travesty. The complainant says that, prior to the proceedings, the Director of State Security, Mr. Moncef Ben Gbila, attempted unsuccessfully to persuade him to give false testimony against other detainees, including officials of ENNAHDA, in exchange for his release. According to the complainant, during the proceedings, the magistrate of the State security court, Mr. Hechmi Zemmal, forced him to keep his statements brief, thus compromising his right to a defence. In addition, when the complainant was brought face to face with a witness who claimed to have been the victim of an act of violence committed by him, this witness, according to the complainant, repeatedly stated that the complainant was not the person in question. The defence counsel demanded that he be acquitted for lack of evidence, but the magistrate found that the witness had been affected by the shock of having to face his aggressor once again and, on 27 September 1987, sentenced the complainant to 10 years’ immediate imprisonment and hard labour and 10 years’ administrative supervision.2 2.12 The complainant stresses that, like other victims of torture, he was given no opportunity in the examination proceedings and the trial to describe his experiences of torture or to denounce those responsible. According to the complainant, judges brusquely interrupt to prevent anyone, even lawyers, mentioning this topic, and the fear of being subjected again to torture, if the detainee dares raise this issue with the judge, acts as a strong deterrent in the intimidation process. 1 The complaint does not specify the accusations brought against the complainant. 2 The complaint does not specify the reasons given for the finding against the complainant. 134