A/HRC/13/42*
page 162
January 2005.
Additional information
In Kandahar, he spent the first 4 weeks in solitary confinement in a metallic barn divided into
six cells. He was later held with other detainees. He was held in incommunicado detention for
two months, although he was visited by the ICRC. He was subjected to heavy torture and was
interrogated, sometimes naked, by the FBI, the CIA, military intelligence and the MI5.
In Bagram, he was subjected to systematic interrogations, during which he was shackled, and
subjected to physical and psychological tortures such as a mock rape of his wife. He also
witnessed two detainees being beaten to death. If the interrogators did not hear what they
wanted, he was taken out of the interrogation room, beaten by someone other than the
interrogators, and then taken back. He was held in solitary confinement during the initial 6
weeks, and later in communal cells “where detainees were treated like animals”. In Bagram, he
was visited by the ICRC and could send letters to his family through them.
After his release, he was sent back to the United Kingdom, but he did not have his passport
until mid-2009.
* Information contained is from an interview with interviewee and other credible sources.
Case 7 - Biographic details
Name of interviewee
Mr. Abou Elkassim Britel*
Nationality/country of origin
Moroccan and Italian
Gender
Male
Detention
Date of initial detention
10 March 2002
Location of initial detention
Lahore, Pakistan
Grounds of initial detention
His initial detention was on the grounds of immigration matters. The second period of
detention was carried out on the ground of suspicion of his involvement in bombings in
Casablanca.
The authority(ies) involved in the detention
First Period of Detention
In Pakistan - Pakistani immigration officers, Pakistani officials and United States
officials, including FBI agents.
In Morocco - Moroccan officers (including the Moroccan secret service) and
United States officials.
Second Period of Detention
In Morocco - he was detained by Moroccan officers, this time en route to Italy, and
was again transferred into the hands of the Moroccan secret service agency, the
Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire. He was subsequently transferred to a public
prison. He remains imprisoned in Ain Bourja prison Casablanca, Morocco.
Total period of detention
Two periods of detention:
1. Approximately one year (10 March 2002 to February 2003)
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