CAT/C/64/D/810/2017
procedure, decided to request interim measures by asking Morocco not to extradite the
victim to Tunisia while the complaint was under consideration. On 30 June 2017, having
informed the Committee that the State party had complied with that request, the
complainant requested an additional protection measure consisting of the immediate release
of the alleged victim. On 7 August 2017, the Committee acceded to the request by calling
on the State party to ensure that the complainant enjoys all the fundamental safeguards
necessitated by the state of his health during detention, in particular by considering his
release or any other appropriate solution. On 28 September 2017, the State party informed
the Committee that the alleged victim remained in detention, assuring it that he enjoyed all
the safeguards necessary for the exercise of his rights, particularly in view of the state of his
health.
The facts as submitted by the complainant
2.1
At 6 p.m. on 22 September 2016, Mr. Gharsallah was arrested by plain-clothes
police officers at his home in Tangier, Morocco, and taken to the headquarters of the
National Police in Tangier. The police officers told him that Tunisia had issued an
international warrant for his arrest. He was then taken into police custody.
2.2
The next day Mr. Gharsallah was brought before the Crown Prosecutor of the Court
of First Instance of Tangier, who formally notified him of the international arrest warrant
and stated that it had been issued by the investigating magistrate of chamber No. 19 of the
Court of Tunis in response to a criminal complaint filed against him by the National FactFinding Commission with regard to alleged crimes of extortion by a public official and
corruption. That body,3 which was established after the change of political regime in 2011,
had the stated aim of combating misappropriation and corruption, real or perceived, on the
part of members of the former regime. Mr. Gharsallah was transferred to the Salé 1 prison
five days later. On 7 November 2016 he was brought before the Criminal Division of the
Court of Cassation of Rabat for a ruling on the extradition request.
2.3
During the hearing, Mr. Hichem Haddad, counsel for the alleged victim, argued that
the extradition request from the Tunisian authorities was inadmissible on formal grounds
and was of a political nature, particularly in view of Mr. Gharsallah’s role in the
Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique, the former ruling party, and his personal
ties with the deposed President, Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali.
2.4
Mr. Haddad also argued, in both his oral pleadings and his written submissions, that
the alleged victim was at risk of suffering physical and psychological harm if he was
handed over to the Tunisian authorities. The alleged victim also challenged the extradition
request by claiming that the arrest warrant issued by the new Tunisian authorities was
politically motivated and that he would, if extradited, be at risk of being subjected to torture
or ill-treatment.
2.5
In a decision dated 23 November 2016, the Court of Cassation of Rabat dismissed
all the defences raised without addressing them and issued an opinion in favour of the
alleged victim’s extradition. The Court merely stated that the offences for which Mr.
Gharsallah’s extradition was being sought were also criminalized under Moroccan
legislation and that the acts described in the requesting State’s extradition request were not
of a political nature or related to a political offence. According to the complainant, however,
the Court made no comment on the claim that Mr. Gharsallah might, if extradited to his
country of origin, be at risk of torture or ill-treatment, and did not justify its decision in the
light of this claim.
2.6
Fearing arrest owing to the political climate prevailing in Tunisia after the removal
of former President Ben Ali in 2011 and the subsequent arrest of many of his supporters,
Mr. Gharsallah had been forced to leave Tunisia for Morocco, where he obtained an official
residence permit.4 The complainant, having been informed that the National Fact-Finding
Commission had filed a criminal complaint against her husband charging him with
receiving undue advantages as a result of his ties with former President Ben Ali (including
3
4
2
Established by a decree-law issued on 18 February 2011.
The complainant does not indicate the exact date on which her husband fled from Tunisia to Morocco.
GE.18-15280