CAT/C/59/D/606/2014
admissibility of the communication separately from the merits. On 20 April 2015, the
Committee declared the complaint admissible.
The facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1
The complainant describes himself as a human rights defender and a peaceful
activist for the independence of Western Sahara. He has been married to a French citizen
since 2003. He claims that he has been subjected to police and judicial harassment by the
Moroccan authorities because of his activities reporting human rights violations in
Moroccan-administered Western Sahara. He claims to have been arrested, ill-treated and
convicted on several occasions in 2006, 2008, 2009 and early 2010.
2.2
After 9 October 2010, thousands of Saharans living in Western Sahara left their
homes to move to temporary camps located on the outskirts of towns, including the Gdeim
Izik camp near Laâyoune. The aim of this action was to denounce the economic and social
discrimination to which Saharans consider themselves to be subjected by the State party.
The complainant was responsible for showing foreign visitors and journalists around the
Gdeim Izik camp and explaining to them the issues at stake.
2.3
On 7 November 2010, the complainant was approached on two occasions by
government envoys wearing civilian clothes who asked him to have the camp evacuated.
The complainant replied that it was not within his power to do so. That evening, the
complainant noticed police officers near to the house where he was staying. He expressed
his concern to his wife, who had remained in France. The same evening, while the
complainant was paying a visit to a family who were friends of his, Moroccan security
forces burst into the house and struck several members of the family. They then proceeded
to violently arrest the complainant; although he offered no resistance, he was violently
pushed to the ground, handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten unconscious. According to the
complainant, plain-clothes agents of the Directorate-General for National Surveillance and
the General Intelligence Department were present. During a journey lasting 30 minutes, he
was forced to remain with his head between his legs and was punched and hit with a
walkie-talkie on his back and head. He was taken to Laâyoune police station, where he was
held from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m.
2.4
During the hours he was held at Laâyoune police station, the complainant was
forced to remain still while handcuffed and blindfolded. He was struck whenever he moved
or changed position. He was insulted and accused of being a traitor and a mercenary. The
complainant was then questioned by senior police officials about his involvement in the
Gdeim Izik camp, of which he was alleged to be the organizer. During the interrogation, he
was slapped, punched in the face, beaten on the soles of his feet with a stick (falaqa) and
then struck with the stick on the buttocks. After about forty minutes, his trousers and T-shirt
were removed and he was forced to remain in a kneeling position; otherwise he would be
beaten. At dawn on 8 November 2010, the complainant, still handcuffed and blindfolded,
was transferred to Laâyoune gendarmerie.
2.5
The complainant was held at Laâyoune gendarmerie until 12 November 2010,
without knowing where he was. During all that time, he was kept blindfolded with his
wrists handcuffed behind his back and seated on a mattress without being able to move. He
was only allowed to lie down after the last call to prayer of the day. He had almost nothing
to eat and was able to drink only twice a day. He could only go to the toilet when
accompanied by two officers and, even then, he remained handcuffed. He was questioned
daily about his relationship with the Polisario Front, his contacts within that movement,
political parties in Morocco, his childhood, the Gdeim Izik camp and his activities in
France.
2.6 On the night of 11 to 12 November 2010, the complainant, who was still blindfolded,
was transferred, along with other prisoners, to the Laâyoune Court of Appeal to appear
before the investigating judge. While he was waiting in the corridors of the Court, a
gendarmerie officer hit him and threatened him in order to force him to sign a notebook,
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GE.17-06158