A/HRC/13/42*
page 77
basis for the arrests and their places of detention. The above-mentioned States were also
informed of whether the individuals concerned had been brought before the Courts or transferred
outside of the country. Individuals belonging to different terrorist groups had been prosecuted
and detained in public prisons, in compliance with relevant international standards. They would
be judged by the competent judicial authorities. Court proceedings would be public and be held
in the presence of defence lawyers, families, human rights activists and foreign diplomats. Some
would be publicized through the media. The Interpol branch within the Security Service of the
Ministry of the Interior was cooperating with international Interpol branches with regard to
suspected terrorist and other criminal activities.
4. Morocco
151. At least three detainees were rendered to Morocco by the CIA between May and July 2002,
and held in Temara prison, including the following:299
• Abou Elkassim Britel, of Moroccan origin and an Italian citizen through marriage and
naturalization, was seized in Lahore, Pakistan, on 10 March 2002. He stated that he was
tortured in Pakistani custody. On 23 May 2002, he was rendered by the CIA to
Morocco, where he was held in secret detention until February 2003, and where he
alleged he was also tortured. He was released in February 2003, but in May 2003 was
seized again, held for another four months in Temara, then sentenced to 15 years in
prison, which was reduced to nine years on appeal.300 In its submission for the present
study, the Government of Morocco stated that Mr. Britel had not been subjected to
“arbitrary detention or torture” between May 2002 and February 2003, or between May
and September 2003.
• Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian national and British resident, was seized in Karachi,
Pakistan, on 10 April 2002. He was held for approximately three months, during which
time he was subjected to torture. On 21 July 2002, he was rendered by the CIA to
Morocco, where he was held for 18 months in three different unknown facilities. During
that period, he was allegedly threatened, subjected to particularly severe torture and
other forms of ill-treatment; deprived from sleep for up to 48 hours at a time; and his
prayers were interrupted by turning up the volume of pornographic movies. In
January 2004, he was flown to the CIA “dark prison” in Kabul, and in May he was
moved to Bagram. He was flown to Guantanamo on 20 September 2004, and was
released in February 2009.301
299
The third prisoner is Noor al-Deen (see para. 147), who was moved to the Syrian Arab
Republic in 2003.
300
301
Interview with Khadija Anna L. Pighizzini, wife of Abou Elkassim Britel (annex II, case 7).
Interview with Binyam Mohamed (annex II, case 18); see also the finding of two British
High Court judges that the treatment to which he had been subjected presented an “arguable case
of torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”. Available from
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