CAT/C/55/D/494/2012
2.2
It was not until the complainant was in the vehicle that they identified themselves as
officials of the Intelligence and Security Department. They lowered the complainant’s head
so that he would not know where he was being taken. They informed him that he was
accused of terrorism and the murder of three persons. Only after his release did the
complainant learn that he had been detained at the Intelligence and Security Department
military barracks in the Tazegrat district of Ouargla.
2.3
During his interrogation, the complainant was accused of terrorism, the killing of
three people and possession of a Kalashnikov. He denied all these charges. He was then
tortured for eight days by several officers who acted overtly. The methods of torture
included the use of a cloth soaked with water, soap and other cleaning agents, blows to the
face and beating of the buttocks with sticks. The complainant was also compelled to crawl
on a wet floor, causing injury to his knees. For several days, he was kept handcuffed, lying
on his back, naked and suffering from the cold. The complainant was also forced to eat
human excrement.
2.4
On the fifth day of detention, during a torture session, the complainant was thrown
down the stairs, causing injury to his right ankle. Officials of the Intelligence and Security
Department then took him to the military hospital in Tamanrasset, where doctors set his
ankle in plaster.
2.5
Under torture, the complainant stated that he had a weapon in his possession. He
was then taken back to his home, which was searched by police officers, in vain. They then
arrested the complainant’s mother, who was questioned for several hours at the Intelligence
and Security Department barracks. In the final days of his detention, Intelligence and
Security Department officers insisted that the complainant buy them a vehicle at his own
expense in exchange for his release. On 17 January 2011, after eight days of
incommunicado detention, at about 4 p.m., Intelligence and Security Department officers
brought the complainant back to his home and violently threw him from the vehicle onto
the ground when they arrived at the house.
2.6
The day after his release, on 18 January 2011, the complainant went to see a forensic
physician, who gave him a medical certificate that prescribed 12 days of sick leave because
of his state of health. The complainant told the physician that he had been attacked by
strangers, knowing that the practitioner would never give him a certificate if he had
implicated Intelligence and Security Department officers. The complainant also
photographed the wounds sustained as a result of being tortured.1
2.7
As regards the exhaustion of domestic remedies, a few days after his release, the
complainant requested a hearing with the Public Prosecutor of the Ouargla Court and the
Chief Prosecutor of the Court,2 whom he told about his arrest and to whom he reported the
treatment that he received while in detention. The Prosecutors dismissed the complaint. As
the prosecution did not act, the complainant filed a complaint (No. 1643/2011) on 12 April
2011 with the Ministry of Justice, which was received by the criminal affairs and amnesty
procedures department, which issued an acknowledgement of receipt. 3 On this occasion, he
was assured that an investigation would be launched as soon as possible.
2.8
On 28 November 2011, the complainant was summoned to appear as a witness in a
case separate from his own. When he tried to use the opportunity to make a statement and
testify about the torture inflicted during his own detention, the judge expelled him from the
courtroom. On the same day, the complainant applied to the Prosecutor of the Ouargla
1
2
3
The photos were annexed to the communication before the Committee.
The complainant does not mention the name of the Court.
A copy of the receipt of the complaint sent to the Public Prosecutor, which was issued by the Ouargla
Court, is annexed to the complaint before the Committee.
3