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HRW: Deported Tunisian suspect linked to Daesh could face torture

March 10, 2017 at 3:59 pm

Human Right Watch (HRW) has condemned Germany’s deportation of a 24-year-old Tunisian man to Tunisia where he could face torture at the hands of authorities accused of “dirty work” in the North African country.

The Tunisian, named as Charfeddine T in the German press, was arrested in November last year in Berlin and sentenced on Wednesday after German courts found him guilty of membership with Daesh and planning to stage an attack in Germany.

After several judicial proceedings, German authorities agreed to deport the alleged suspect to his native country.

According to defence lawyer, Jonathan Burmeister, the accusations were disingenuous based on information from the FBI and the German domestic intelligence agency BfV.

The Tunisian authorities also said that the suspect belonged to Islamist circles, which is why we believe he will be sent directly to prison and can expect to be tortured, because that often happens in Tunisia when there is suspicion of Islamism.

HRW in Germany shared the lawyer’s concerns pointing out that the alleged Daesh member will be subject to torture once back home.

“From the German point-of-view it is clear you can’t deport anyone if this person is in danger of being executed or tortured, or even of not getting a fair trial,” HWR’s Wenzel Michalski told Germany’s Die Welt.

“If that is the case, the person should be tried here. It’s as simple as that.”

Tunisia has come under criticism by the UN and other human rights groups for subjecting suspects to inhumane treatment and for the surfacing of abuse cases similar to those common under long-time dictator Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, ousted in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring protests.

A Tunisian acting on behalf of Daesh was behind an attack on a Berlin Christmas market in December last year that killed a dozen people. Anis Amri was subsequently shot dead in Italy after fleeing the scene of the massacre.