CAT/C/46/D/419/2010
Only the French Ministry of Justice has replied to the family, inviting them to write to the
French consular authorities, who in turn have informed the family that intervening with the
Moroccan or Algerian authorities would be seen as interfering in their domestic affairs, and
as a slight against the independence of their courts. The International Federation for Human
Rights (FIDH) has given the family an affidavit and ACAT has sent a letter to the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of Morocco, warning him of the risks of torture upon return to
Algeria.
The complaint
3.1
The complainant alleges that Djamel Ktiti has been depicted by M.K. and the others
arrested in the case as the leader of a drug trafficking ring dismantled by the Algerian
police. He contends that as a result his brother is in danger of suffering the same, if not
worse, torture than that inflicted on M.K., in violation of article 3 of the Convention.
3.2
The complainant refers to the Committee’s most recent concluding observations
following consideration of the periodic report of Algeria2 in which the Committee “remains
concerned at the many serious allegations which it has received of cases of torture and
abuse inflicted on detainees by law enforcement officers”. He adds that the torture and
abuse inflicted on M.K. following his arrest demonstrate the legitimacy of this concern, and
repeats that F.K., brother of M.K., saw for himself the traces of torture and abuse endured
by his brother when he visited him in prison.
3.3
The complainant also contends that, since the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal
against the 7 April 2010 extradition order, all domestic remedies have been exhausted in
Morocco.
State party’s observations on admissibility and on the merits
4.1
On 8 September 2010, the State party submitted its observations on the admissibility
and merits of the complaint. After presenting the facts of the case, the State party
emphasized that the detention of Djamel Ktiti on 14 August 2009 by the Moroccan judicial
authorities resulted from an international arrest warrant issued on 19 April 2009 by the
Algerian judicial authorities on charges of forming an organized gang for the unlawful
export of narcotics, which was transmitted by Interpol to the various police stations in the
country, including that of Rabat. On 7 September 2008, after searching a car driven by
M.K., Algerian customs and border police found 110 kilograms of drugs, carefully hidden
in the trunk of a car that had been embarking for Marseille. During interrogation, M.K.
stated that the operation had been planned in Saint Etienne by Djamel Ktiti and B.Z., who
had left Algeria the day before his arrest. M.K. added that other operations had been carried
out previously.
4.2
The State party notes that, pursuant to the mutual legal assistance agreement that it
signed with Algeria on 15 March 1963, and in response to the official request by the
Algerian authorities for Djamel Ktiti’s extradition, he was brought before the criminal
division of the Supreme Court of Morocco on 20 September 2009. At the hearing, he was
counselled by an attorney who submitted a written report further supported by an oral
pleading. During the entire examination process of his case before the Supreme Court,
Djamel Ktiti benefited from all the guarantees laid out in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
On 7 October 2009, the criminal division of the Supreme Court handed down decision No.
913/1 authorizing the extradition of Djamel Ktiti to Algeria, after ensuring that the request
met, in substance and form, all the conditions set by the aforementioned mutual legal
2
4
CAT/C/DZA/CO/3, 26 May 2008, para. 10.
GE.11-43864