An Italian citizen of Moroccan descent [1], Abou Elkassim Britel immigrated to Italy in 1989, where he married an Italian woman [2]. In 2001, he traveled to Pakistan for the purpose of translating Islamic texts from Arabic to Italian [3]. He was arrested in Lahore on 10th March 2002 [4] by Pakistani security officials, after a routine document check wrongly deemed his passport as fake [5].
Britel was subsequently transported him to a secure facility [6], where he allegedly underwent torture and degrading treatment, including beatings (sometimes using cricket bats [7]), being hung from the walls of his cell[8], as well as being subject to accusations of being a “terrorist fighter” [9]. Being an Italian citizen, Britel sought assistance from the Italian embassy to provide him representation and affirm the authenticity of his passport [10].
After ten days of detention, Britel was transferred to the Crime Investigation Department [11], were he was interrogated intensively over 5 days. During this time he was again treated inhumanely, being a victim of violence and forced sleep deprivation. He was juggled between the police and the Pakistani secret service, which used torture against him on two occasions [12]. His requests for Italian government intervention denied, Britel gave way under the pressure he was being subjected to, and a “confession” was extracted from him [13].
On 5th May 2002 [14], Britel was again moved- this time to Islamabad to face questioning by FBI agents [15]. During the four times he was interrogated there, he was offered money and given access to the Moroccan Ambassador [16] (a level of contact he had been denied with the Italian embassy before), in an effort to make him give information about Osama Bin Laden [17].
On 24th May 2002, Britel was blindfolded and loaded onto a private US plane bound for Rabat [18]. On his arrival, he was taken to an unofficial detention centre in Temara [19], rumored to use torture against detainees. He was denied legal access or communication with his family, leaving him almost alone to endure the pressures of his incarceration [20].
After almost a year of suffering under imposed hardship without charge, Mr Britel was released on 11th February 2003 [21]. Despite the absence of charges against him, he was denied the restitution of his passport. The Italian Embassy eventually provided him with a transit pass on 12th May [22], which enabled him to get as far as Melilla (North Africa) before he was again arrested- this time by Moroccan officials [23]. Though the location of his detention was unknown, a local newspaper reported his arrest and linked it with alleged links to Al Qaeda [24]. Mr Britel’s family later discovered that he was imprisoned on the grounds of forming an illegal group. His subsequent prosecution in January 2004 sentenced his to 15 year’s imprisonment, which was reduced to 9 years following the appeal [25]. Italian intelligence had been crucial to his sentence [26].
In September 2006, the six-year criminal investigation (along with two years’ of surveillance) into the allegations against Britel culminated in the dismissal of all charges, with there being no evidence proving Britel had involvement in “any criminal, let alone terrorist-related, activity.” [27]
Following the exposure of the flawed nature of the evidence against him, eighty-seven Italian MP’s petitioned the president of Morocco to release Britel from detention without charge [28], with the Italian undersecretary for justice (Luigi Li Gotti) assuring to send Morocco a strong message [29]. The European Commission expressed dissatisfaction at the extradition and the cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs in carrying it out [30]. Furthermore, the European Parliament requested the Italian government ‘to take concrete measures to obtain the immediate release of Abou Elkassim Britel’ [31]. However, these requests and criticisms have been ignored and Britel remains languishing in a prison in Casablanca today. He has been on hunger strike since 16 November 2007 [32].
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End Notes
[1] Colleen Barry, 06/12/2006, Indictments Sought in Cleric's Abduction, The Guardian (Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=17807)
[2] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[3] David Walsh, 01/06/2007, As Part of CIA’s “Extraordinary Rendition” Program, Boeing Subsidiary Accused of Profiting From Torture, World Socialist Website (can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=20544)
[4] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[5] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[6] David Walsh, 01/06/2007, As Part of CIA’s “Extraordinary Rendition” Program, Boeing Subsidiary Accused of Profiting From Torture, World Socialist Website (can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=20544)
[7] David Walsh, 01/06/2007, As Part of CIA’s “Extraordinary Rendition” Program, Boeing Subsidiary Accused of Profiting From Torture, World Socialist Website (can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=20544)
[8] David Walsh, 01/06/2007, As Part of CIA’s “Extraordinary Rendition” Program, Boeing Subsidiary Accused of Profiting From Torture, World Socialist Website (can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=20544)
[9] David Walsh, 01/06/2007, As Part of CIA’s “Extraordinary Rendition” Program, Boeing Subsidiary Accused of Profiting From Torture, World Socialist Website (can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=20544)
[10] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[11] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[12] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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[13] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[14] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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[15] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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[16] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[17] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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[18] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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[19] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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[20] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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[21] David Walsh, 01/06/2007, As Part of CIA’s “Extraordinary Rendition” Program, Boeing Subsidiary Accused of Profiting From Torture, World Socialist Website (can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=20544)
[22] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[23] David Walsh, 01/06/2007, As Part of CIA’s “Extraordinary Rendition” Program, Boeing Subsidiary Accused of Profiting From Torture, World Socialist Website (can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=20544)
[24] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[25] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[26] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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[27] David Walsh, 01/06/2007, As Part of CIA’s “Extraordinary Rendition” Program, Boeing Subsidiary Accused of Profiting From Torture, World Socialist Website (can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=20544)
[28] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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[29] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[30] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[31] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
(Can be viewed at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=628)
[32] (Author unknown), 22/12/2007, Abou El Kassim Britel – Morocco, Fair Trials
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