CAT/C/52/D/477/2011
2.2
Immediately on arrival in Casablanca, the complainant was placed in police custody1
in a location that he could not identify because he was taken there blindfold. He claims that
he was then subjected to repeated sessions of torture, for between four and five days, during
which time he was struck with truncheons and slapped by several people, electrocuted, and
choked while his head was held in a bucket of water until he fainted, as well as being
deprived of sleep, food and water, threatened with rape and undergoing actual rape with a
glass bottle. He was allegedly given injections on several occasions, after which he
experienced bouts of dementia and unconsciousness. On two occasions, he was driven to a
forest in the vicinity of Nador, threatened with death and subjected to a mock execution by
shooting. He spent several days in detention in Temara, where he reportedly endured
similar torture sessions. He remained there until 23 December 2010, when he was
transferred to Casablanca and handed over to the national brigade of the criminal
investigation department; he was in a very serious condition, unable to speak or move.
Following this treatment, the complainant signed pre-written confessions in Arabic, a
language he does not know well. On 24 December 2010, the complainant was brought
before the investigating judge from the Salé Court of Appeal, who neither took note of his
multiple injuries nor requested that an expert medical examination be carried out.
2.3
After the extradition, his family only learned of his fate through a newspaper article
that appeared on 27 December 2010. They then contacted a lawyer, who was able to see the
complainant on the same day in Salé II Prison. The lawyer noted that the complainant was
terrified and incapable of speaking or moving. The complainant remained in that state for
several days, unable to talk about the treatment he had suffered. In the weeks that followed,
he refused to lodge a complaint for fear of being tortured again.
2.4
The complainant appeared before the investigating judge again on 18 January 2011.
This time, he was accompanied by his lawyer, who made allegations of ill-treatment. The
judge, however, refused to take note of them. The complainant did not undergo a medical
examination, notwithstanding the stipulation in articles 73, paragraph 5, and 134, paragraph
5, of the Code of Criminal Procedure that the public prosecutor and/or the investigating
judge must order a medical examination of the accused when they observe that there are
grounds for so doing.
2.5
On 11 February 2011, the complainant’s counsel sent a letter to the Minister of
Justice to ask for a medical examination to be carried out by independent international
experts. On 18 March 2011, the Minister of Justice denied the request, stating that the
complainant’s incarceration had been lawful and that his rights and dignity had been
respected; that he had never complained of having been subjected to acts of torture, either
to the Office of the Prosecutor-General or to the investigating judge; that neither the
complainant nor his Moroccan counsel had requested any expert medical examination or
lodged any complaint about such a matter; and that under Moroccan law, the complainant
was still entitled to ask for a medical examination to be conducted by the Moroccan health
services.
2.6
On 13 May 2011, the complainant lodged a complaint with the Prosecutor-General
at the Rabat Court of Appeal denouncing the acts of torture to which he had been subjected,
but the complaint was dismissed on 29 September 2011. He also reported the acts of torture
to the National Human Rights Council on 2 May 2011 and 29 July 2011. On 26 May 2011,
the Brussels Bar Association addressed a letter to the Minister of Justice of Morocco
1
GE.14-06421
In accordance with Decree 03-03 on cases relating to State security and counter-terrorism, a detainee
may be held in police custody for three consecutive periods of 96 hours, during which time he or she
has no right to counsel.
3