Tunisia
25.09.03
Urgent Interventions
Tunisia: OMCT and TRIAL call for the removal of General Habib Ammar
PRESS RELEASE
For the attention of the Press
Geneva, September 25th, 2003
World Summit on the Information Society:
OMCT and TRIAL call for the removal of General Habib Ammar
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and TRIAL (Track Impunity Always), are seriously concerned by the potential damage that may be wrought should General Habib Ammar remain at the head of the World Summit on the Information Society’s (WSIS) Organising Committee. The summit is set to take place in Tunis in 2005.
Having been notified of General Habib Ammar’s presence in Geneva to participate in the WSIS’ preparatory work for the session that is to be held in Geneva in December 2003, on September 17th, 2003, OMCT and TRIAL lodged a criminal complaint against the General with the Canton of Geneva’s General Prosecutor.
General Habib Ammar, who was previously the Commander of the Tunisian National Guard and the Minister of the Interior, actively participated in the brutal repression of the Tunisian people for a number of years. The use of torture was widespread in police establishments that were under his control, as the Commander of the Tunisian National Guard, from 1984 to 1987. Examples of the notorious torture centres of the time include: the National Guard headquarters at the Aouina barracks, the centres in Ariana, Tadhamoun City and Douar Hicher.
In 1986, General Habib Ammar created the special services’ national directorate, known as the “Research and Investigations” services (abhath wa taftich). These were based in the Aouina barracks and were used to subject hundreds of persons to torture, most of whom were political opponents to the Bourguiba regime and demonstrators. Witness accounts have brought to light the particularly violent nature of the methods used by the members of the security services at this location. General Habib Ammar is alleged to have closely followed developments in a number of investigations carried out by these services and to have been present during several of the interrogations carried out at this location.
Following the November 1987 coup d’etat by General Ben Ali, General Habib Ammar was appointed as Minister for the Interior and, during this period, the Ministry’s facilities were transformed into a detention and torture centre.
The methods of torture that were used by the security services and police forces during the period in which General Habib Ammar held the afore-mentioned positions were particularly brutal and continue being used to this day.
On September 23rd, 2003, several days after General Habib Ammar had left Switzerland, OMCT and TRIAL were informed that the criminal complaint that they had lodged against the General had been shelved by the Canton of Geneva’s General Prosecutor. This decision was based on Article 12 of the headquarters agreement, which was signed in July 1971 by the Swiss Confederation and the International Telecommunications Union (which is holding the summit), which provides immunity from arrest and detention for state representatives to the ITU.
OMCT and TRIAL will not appeal this decision, notably due to the fact that the General is now out of the country, but contest the interpretation of the law that this decision represents. The organisations wish to remind the Swiss authorities that it is their obligation to arrest and prosecute any person alleged to have committed acts of torture who is within their territory, under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, that was ratified by Switzerland in 1986. In light of this, OMCT and TRIAL reserve the right to take appropriate action if General Habib Ammar were to return to Geneva for the session of the World Summit being held in December 2003.
Finally, OMCT and TRIAL consider that General Habib Ammar past record is causing the World Summit, its organiser, the ITU, and its host, the Swiss Confederation, to lose credibility. Consequently, the organisations will be writing to the Swiss authorities, the ITU’s Secretary General and the Secretary General of the Untied Nations, in order to have them approach the Tunisian authorities to request that General Habib Ammar no longer participate in the World Summit. The organisations will also be writing to President Ben Ali urging him to name a new representative in his stead and to take all measures necessary to ensure that all alleged perpetrators of torture are brought to justice.
The fact that the World Summit on the Information Society is being held in Tunisia – a country that is notorious for its poor human rights record - in 2005, has engendered widespread condemnation from a large number of the civil society organisations that are participating in the Summit, and the nomination of General Habib Ammar as the President of the Summit’s Organising Committee raises serious concerns about the Tunisian regime’s intentions for this event.
Contact OMCT: Christine Ferrier +4122 809.49.39 or +4179 401.76.00
Contact TRIAL: Philip Grant +4176 455.21.21
For more details see:
www.omct.org
www.trial-ch.org
For the attention of the Press
Geneva, September 25th, 2003
World Summit on the Information Society:
OMCT and TRIAL call for the removal of General Habib Ammar
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and TRIAL (Track Impunity Always), are seriously concerned by the potential damage that may be wrought should General Habib Ammar remain at the head of the World Summit on the Information Society’s (WSIS) Organising Committee. The summit is set to take place in Tunis in 2005.
Having been notified of General Habib Ammar’s presence in Geneva to participate in the WSIS’ preparatory work for the session that is to be held in Geneva in December 2003, on September 17th, 2003, OMCT and TRIAL lodged a criminal complaint against the General with the Canton of Geneva’s General Prosecutor.
General Habib Ammar, who was previously the Commander of the Tunisian National Guard and the Minister of the Interior, actively participated in the brutal repression of the Tunisian people for a number of years. The use of torture was widespread in police establishments that were under his control, as the Commander of the Tunisian National Guard, from 1984 to 1987. Examples of the notorious torture centres of the time include: the National Guard headquarters at the Aouina barracks, the centres in Ariana, Tadhamoun City and Douar Hicher.
In 1986, General Habib Ammar created the special services’ national directorate, known as the “Research and Investigations” services (abhath wa taftich). These were based in the Aouina barracks and were used to subject hundreds of persons to torture, most of whom were political opponents to the Bourguiba regime and demonstrators. Witness accounts have brought to light the particularly violent nature of the methods used by the members of the security services at this location. General Habib Ammar is alleged to have closely followed developments in a number of investigations carried out by these services and to have been present during several of the interrogations carried out at this location.
Following the November 1987 coup d’etat by General Ben Ali, General Habib Ammar was appointed as Minister for the Interior and, during this period, the Ministry’s facilities were transformed into a detention and torture centre.
The methods of torture that were used by the security services and police forces during the period in which General Habib Ammar held the afore-mentioned positions were particularly brutal and continue being used to this day.
On September 23rd, 2003, several days after General Habib Ammar had left Switzerland, OMCT and TRIAL were informed that the criminal complaint that they had lodged against the General had been shelved by the Canton of Geneva’s General Prosecutor. This decision was based on Article 12 of the headquarters agreement, which was signed in July 1971 by the Swiss Confederation and the International Telecommunications Union (which is holding the summit), which provides immunity from arrest and detention for state representatives to the ITU.
OMCT and TRIAL will not appeal this decision, notably due to the fact that the General is now out of the country, but contest the interpretation of the law that this decision represents. The organisations wish to remind the Swiss authorities that it is their obligation to arrest and prosecute any person alleged to have committed acts of torture who is within their territory, under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, that was ratified by Switzerland in 1986. In light of this, OMCT and TRIAL reserve the right to take appropriate action if General Habib Ammar were to return to Geneva for the session of the World Summit being held in December 2003.
Finally, OMCT and TRIAL consider that General Habib Ammar past record is causing the World Summit, its organiser, the ITU, and its host, the Swiss Confederation, to lose credibility. Consequently, the organisations will be writing to the Swiss authorities, the ITU’s Secretary General and the Secretary General of the Untied Nations, in order to have them approach the Tunisian authorities to request that General Habib Ammar no longer participate in the World Summit. The organisations will also be writing to President Ben Ali urging him to name a new representative in his stead and to take all measures necessary to ensure that all alleged perpetrators of torture are brought to justice.
The fact that the World Summit on the Information Society is being held in Tunisia – a country that is notorious for its poor human rights record - in 2005, has engendered widespread condemnation from a large number of the civil society organisations that are participating in the Summit, and the nomination of General Habib Ammar as the President of the Summit’s Organising Committee raises serious concerns about the Tunisian regime’s intentions for this event.
Contact OMCT: Christine Ferrier +4122 809.49.39 or +4179 401.76.00
Contact TRIAL: Philip Grant +4176 455.21.21
For more details see:
www.omct.org
www.trial-ch.org