CAT/C/68/D/817/2017 United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Distr.: General 2 January 2020 English Original: French Committee against Torture Decision adopted by the Committee under article 22 of the Convention, concerning communication No. 817/2017*, ** Communication submitted by: Ali Aarrass (represented by counsel, Dounia Alamat and Christophe Marchand) Alleged victim: The complainant State party: Morocco Date of complaint: 17 March 2017 (initial submission) Document references: Decision taken pursuant to rules 114 and 115 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted to the State party on 28 March 2017 (not issued in document form) Date of present decision: 25 November 2019 Subject matter: Torture and ill-treatment in prison Procedural issues: None Substantive issues: Torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; solitary confinement; obligation of the State party to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation Articles of the Convention: 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 1.1 The complainant is Ali Aarrass, a dual national of Belgium and Morocco, born on 4 March 1962 in Farjana, Morocco. He is currently being held in the Tiflet 2 prison and complains about the conditions of detention, including his placement in solitary confinement, which constitutes a violation of the State party’s obligations under articles 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 of the Convention. The State party ratified the Convention on 21 June 1993 and made the declaration pursuant to article 22 (1) of the Convention on 19 October 2006. The complainant is represented by counsel, Dounia Alamat and Christophe Marchand.1 * Adopted by the Committee at its sixty-eighth session (11 November–6 December 2019). ** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication: 1 Felice Gaer, Abdelwahab Hani, Claude Heller Rouassant, Jens Modvig, Ana Racu, Diego RodríguezPinzón, Sébastien Touzé and Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov. Pursuant to rule 109, read in conjunction with rule 15, of the Committee’s rules of procedure, and paragraph 10 of the guidelines on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies (the Addis Ababa guidelines), Essadia Belmir did not participate in the examination of the communication. Counsel has a power of attorney from the complainant. GE.20-00011 (E) 140220 140220 

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