Thousands of suspected members of the Islamic al-Nahda (Renaissance) movement have been arrested in Tunisia over the past 18 months. Many have been held incommunicado for protracted periods. At least 10 men, including 8 alleged sympathizers of al-Nahda, are believed to have died in police custody since April 1991 in circumstances strongly suggesting death as a result of torture. AI has seen the autopsy report of one of these cases, Faisal Barakat, who died in October 1991 in Nabeul. The Tunisian Government told AI that he had died in a traffic accident. However, an independent forensic pathologist who examined Faisal Barakat’s autopsy report concluded that this report indicated death due to “forcible insertion of a foreign object at least 6 inches into the anus”.
