48 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 de la detention), who authorized his detention for a further 15 days, and informed him that he was being investigated by the French police on suspicion of providing logistical support to a network which assists individuals to travel to Iraq to take part in the armed conflict there – an allegation which he denied. When he discovered the nature of the suspicions against him he made a claim for asylum, on 6 May. On 7 May he was taken to the regional administrative detention centre (centre de rétention administrative, CRA) at Mesnil-Amelot, to be detained while his asylum claim was processed. On 10 May Houssine Tarkhani was taken from the CRA by officers from the French intelligence services (Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire, DST), to be questioned by a judge in relation to suspected terrorism-related activities. He was questioned in particular about his relationship with Mohamed Msahel, a Tunisian national currently imprisoned in Morocco on terrorism charges, with whom Houssine Tarkhani had, on his account, become acquainted when they attended the same mosque in Milan. At no stage was Houssine Tarkhani charged with any terrorism-related criminal offence. On 11 May Houssine Tarkhani was returned to the CRA at Mesnil-Amelot. On 15 May he was interviewed by officials from OFPRA. On 25 May he was told that his asylum application, which had been assessed under the accelerated procedure (procédure prioritaire), had been rejected. An appeal against this decision was lodged with the CRR. Nonetheless he was, on 3 June, forcibly returned to Tunisia. AI has since learnt that Houssine Tarkhani was, as he feared, detained by officers of the Tunisian state security (Sûreté de l’Etat) on his arrival in Tunisia. According to information available to the organization he was, on arrest, taken to the State Security Department of the Ministry of Interior in Tunis, where he was reportedly tortured and threatened with death. He was then held in incommunicado detention for a period of nine days – longer than is Amnesty International permitted by Tunisian law – without being allowed to contact his family. He has reportedly now been charged with a number of broadly-defined offences under Tunisian counter-terrorism legislation. AI is concerned that Houssine Tarkhani was returned to Tunisia before the CRR was able to determine an appeal which he had made against the decision to refuse his claim for asylum in France. AI further notes that, following its decision in the recent case of Ferdi Aydin, the CRR appears to regard any appeal which is outstanding at the moment when a person is forcibly returned, as Houssine Tarkhani was, to be without merit, as long as the person is not outside his/her country of origin. The case of Adel Tebourski: update to AI Index: EUR 21/006/2006 On 11 May, the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) issued a decision on the case of Adel Tebourski, who was forcibly returned from France to Tunisia in August 2006, having been stripped of his dual French-Tunisian nationality. AI had previously urged the government not to return Adel Tebourski due to the possible risks of ill-treatment (AI Index: EUR 21/006/2006). Adel Tebourski was returned to Tunisia before his appeal against the refusal of his claim for asylum in France had been heard, and despite a request from the CAT itself for France to suspend his expulsion while the Committee examined his case. In the light of these facts the CAT found that France had not acted in good faith when it expelled Adel Tebourski, and that his expulsion constituted a violation of Articles 3 and 22 of the Convention Against Torture – that is, respectively, the obligation of non-refoulement and the obligation on states who have recognized a right of individual complaint to the CAT to respect that right. The CAT has invited France to make submissions to the Committee on how it plans to make reparation for this violation. AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007