68 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 Counter-terrorism Rendition of Abu Omar (update to AI Index EUR 01/001/2007) On 16 February an Italian judge issued indictments against seven Italian citizens, primarily operatives of the Italian military and security agency, Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (SISMI), in connection with the abduction of Abu Omar. Abu Omar, of Egyptian nationality and resident in Italy, was abducted from a street in Milan four years ago and sent to Egypt as part of the US-led programme of secret detention and renditions. On arrival in Egypt Abu Omar was immediately detained and allegedly subjected to torture; he was released on 11 February 2007 without charge. A Milan court issued extradition requests against 26 US citizens suspected of being involved in the rendition in July 2006 and in February 2007 it issued indictments against them. By the end of the period under review the Italian Minister of Justice Clemente Mastella had still failed to forward to the US authorities the extradition requests for the 26 US citizens, most of them thought to be agents of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Following these indictments, the Italian government appealed to the Constitutional Court on grounds of ‘conflict of powers’, claiming that the judiciary had taken on powers it was not constitutionally allowed to. Concretely, the government alleged that several pieces of evidence collected during the investigation were protected by state secrecy and therefore should not be used at trial. In April the Constitutional Court declared the government’s appeal admissible, and on 18, during the preliminary hearings in the trial against the 26 suspected CIA operatives and seven Italian citizens charged in connection with the rendition of Abu Omar, the trial was suspended pending the outcome of the Constitutional Court’s review. It was the legal representative of Nicolò Pollari, the head of the SIMSI at the time of Abu Omar’s rendition, who had asked for the trial to be suspended. Amnesty International In April, a court in Brescia opened investigations into whether eight persons were responsible for the publication of acts which were covered by state secrecy in the trial against those suspected of being responsible for Abu Omar’s rendition. Those investigated in this regard two prosecutors in the Abu Omar trial, Ferdinando Pomarici and Armando Spataro, as well as the former Head of the Italian Police, Gianni De Gennaro. Pisanu Law Italy retained its counter-terrorism legislation, known as the Pisanu Law (Law 155/05). The Pisanu Law allows expulsion orders of both regular and irregular migrants to be decided and implemented based on well-grounded reasons to believe that an individual’s stay in Italy could favour in any manner terrorist organizations and activities. The law does not require the person deported to have been convicted of or charged with a crime connected to terrorism. The expulsion can be ordered by the Minister of Interior or, under his/her delegation, by a Prefect -and the Pisanu Law does not provide for judicial confirmation or authorization of the expulsion decision and of its implementation. A decision to expel under the law may be appealed before a judge, but the appeal does not have a suspensive effect on the deportation. AI is therefore concerned, among other things, that the expulsion procedure lacks effective protection against refoulement. Below are examples of persons for whom expulsion orders have been issued under the Pisanu Law. Expulsion of Cherif Foued Ben Fitouri On 4 January, Cherif Foued Ben Fitouri was expelled from Italy to Tunisia under the Pisanu Law without being able to exercise his right to legal counsel or his right to a judicial remedy, and without any protection against the risk of refoulement. Cherif Foued Ben Fitouri had resided legally in AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007