Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

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West. But this relationship must be built on respect and justice. Only by admitting and apologizing for past mistakes … can we move forward together as friends.” 302 The Tripoli Documents also led to a criminal investigation by UK Police into MI6’s involvement in the rendition of Belhadj and Saadi (see below), another Libyan who was rendered to Libya with MI6 and CIA assistance. 303 Treatment in Libya Upon arrival in Libya, Belhadj and his wife were driven separately to Tajoura prison in Tripoli. 304 Belhadj said he was then brought directly to Musa Kusa, who was standing right in front of him when his blindfold was removed. “I’ve been waiting for you,” Belhadj said Kusa told him. 305 Bouchar was put in a cell where she would spend the next four months. 306 She told The Guardian that she was interrogated for about five hours a day. “At one point a cot was brought in the cell along with some baby clothes, nappies, a bed cover and a baby bath,” she said. “I really thought I was going to have to have my baby there, and that we would both be held there.” 307 Bouchar was released three weeks before giving birth to a son. 308 Belhadj was brought to her cell for a few moments before she was set free, though not permitted to leave the country. 309 Belhadj was held for six more years, five of them in solitary confinement. 310 He said he went for a year and a half without any sunlight. His treatment depended upon how responsive he was during interrogations. He was denied family visits for three years and then 302 “Watch Libyan rendition victim Abdel Hakim Belhadj talk to the European Parliament,” Reprieve.com, April 12, 2012, at 0:16 and 2:30, http://www.reprieve.org.uk/tvandradio/Belhadj_European_Parliament/ (accessed on June 15, 2012). 303 “Joint statement by the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Metropolitan Police Service,” Crown Prosecution news release. 304 Human Rights Watch interview with Belhadj, Abu Salim Prison, Tripoli, April 27, 2009. 305 “Watch Libyan rendition victim Abdel Hakim Belhadj talk to the European Parliament,” Reprieve.com. 306 Cobain, “Special report: Rendition ordeal that raises new questions about secret trials,” The Guardian. 307 Ibid. 308 “Libyan Rebel Leader Sues British Government for Illegal Rendition to Libya,” Leigh Day & Co. news release, December 19, 2011. 309 Cobain, “Special report: Rendition ordeal that raises new questions about secret trials,” The Guardian. 310 Human Rights Watch Interview with Belhadj, Tripoli, Libya, March 28, 2012. 99 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2012
subsequently was able to receive visits every three months. He said he was deprived of sleep and often interrogated at night and forced to stand for long periods of time. 311 While he was in Libyan custody, Belhadj said he was interrogated four times by people he believes were American agents. 312 He was also interrogated by alleged British agents during two sessions that lasted about two hours each. 313 He said they were very knowledgeable about the LIFG and asked questions about members living in the United Kingdom. His Libyan captors told him that his treatment would improve if he told the British that the LIFG activists were linked with al Qaeda. 314 “I told the British, as I told everyone else, that LIFG had no link with al-Qa’ida. I knew making a link would stop what was happening to me, but I was not going to do it.” 315 Intelligence officers from other European countries, including France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, also interrogated him while he was detained in Libya. 316 The authorities tried Belhadj in 2008 for crimes against the state. Although he had a stateappointed lawyer, he was never given a chance to meet with him. There were no witnesses at the trial, and the only evidence taken into consideration was a report from Libyan security services. 317 He was sentenced to death. 318 “I fully expected I would be killed,” he said. 319 Instead, over time and in conjunction with efforts started by Gaddafi’s son, Saif Gaddafi, he began to participate in an effort to negotiate a prisoner release. Several hundred prisoners, including Belhadj, Saadi, and Sharif were released in early 2010. 320 To obtain his release, he had to publicly renounce his efforts to overthrow the government by force. 321 However, he told Human Rights Watch that he never gave up his desire for regime 311 Ibid. 312 Human Rights Watch interview with Belhadj, Abu Salim Prison, Tripoli, April 27, 2009. 313 Kim Sengupta, “Libyan rebel leader says MI6 knew he was tortured,” The Independent, September 6, 2011, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/libyan-rebel-leader-says-mi6-knew-he-was-tortured-2349778.html (accessed May 2, 2012). 314 Ibid. 315 Ibid. 316 Ibid.; See also, Chulov, “MI6 knew I was tortured, says Libyan rebel leader,” The Guardian. 317 Human Rights Watch interview with Belhadj, Abu Salim Prison, Tripoli, April 27, 2009. 318 Human Rights Watch Interview with Belhadj, Tripoli, Libya, March 28, 2012. 319 “Watch Libyan rendition victim Abdel Hakim Belhadj talk to the European Parliament,” Reprieve.com. 320 “Libya: 202 Prisoners Released But Hundreds Still Held Arbitrarily,” Human Rights Watch news release, March 25, 2010, http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/03/25/libya-202-prisoners-released-hundreds-still-held-arbitrarily. 321 Tawil, “The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group's revisions: one year later,” Magharebia, http://magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/07/23/feature-02. LIFG spiritual leader Saadi and Deputy LIFG leader Sharif were released along with Belhadj. The three of them co-authored a document entitled DELIVERED INTO ENEMY HANDS 100
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H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H Del
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Copyright © 2012 Human Rights Watc
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Mustafa Jawda al-Mehdi ............
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This report is based mostly on Huma
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These stories provide new details a
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Gaddafi opponents in Libya. Ten of
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treatment. Nor did they protect det
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two more the following April. Commu
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esponsibilities. Mehdi and Shoroiey
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identified in this report to Libya,
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of compiling the names of those who
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Libya from the 1970s to the 1990s I
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Gaddafi also made major changes to
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Abu Salim massacre, in which prison
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insurgency, mainly in eastern Libya
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In late autumn of 2007, these repor
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econciled with Gaddafi and a number
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PLACES OF ARREST, DATES OF TRANSFER
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Shoroeiya and Sharif said that once
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Arrest and Detention Shoroeiya and
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CIA Rendition Transportation Proced
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Both were detained in this first lo
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Abu Yasser al Jazairi, from Algeria
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Sharif also said he learned the nam
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Afghanistan on April 25, 2004. Both
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Shoroeiya and Sharif both alleged t
Page 53 and 54: The Interrogators Shoroeiya said th
Page 55 and 56: He said there were doctors present.
Page 57 and 58: Mohammed Shoroeiya said his interro
Page 59 and 60: stan.” 191 Both thought they migh
Page 61 and 62: Shoroeiya said there were intrusive
Page 63 and 64: “The biggest suffering for any pr
Page 65 and 66: Majid Mokhtar Sasy al-Maghrebi Maji
Page 67 and 68: him in Pashto, they spoke to him in
Page 69 and 70: Loud music was blaring constantly.
Page 71 and 72: On various occasions while detained
Page 73 and 74: he was in Karachi, Pakistan. After
Page 75 and 76: faces. He said he saw from the eyeh
Page 77 and 78: His interrogators would come to him
Page 79 and 80: He again went on hunger strike, ask
Page 81 and 82: Di’iki was detained in solitary c
Page 83 and 84: Mustafa Salim Ali el-Madaghi Mustaf
Page 85 and 86: took photos of him; put him in diap
Page 87 and 88: flight plan to go into Nouakchott,
Page 89 and 90: Mehdi said he first went to Saudi A
Page 91 and 92: Pakistanis responded in Pashto. He
Page 93 and 94: There were about 12 interpreters, p
Page 95 and 96: know what’s going to happen to yo
Page 97 and 98: Departure from Libya Belhadj was bo
Page 99 and 100: ‘This is it.’ I thought I would
Page 101 and 102: information with you [Libyan securi
Page 103: equests for information from Abu
Page 107 and 108: Sami Mostefa al-Saadi © 2012 Human
Page 109 and 110: making harsh statements against the
Page 111 and 112: denied permission for the Libyan ai
Page 113 and 114: Saadi said he was held without char
Page 115 and 116: complicity in his transfer back to
Page 117 and 118: Abu Farsan spent the next decade at
Page 119 and 120: They noted in the fax that they und
Page 121 and 122: On June 7, 2006, Abu Farsan was tra
Page 123 and 124: Safrani in Afghanistan, said that t
Page 125 and 126: V. The Case of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Lib
Page 127 and 128: In late 2001, Pakistani authorities
Page 129 and 130: 2004, al-Libi recanted the informat
Page 131 and 132: held until December 2006, when the
Page 133 and 134: It is not clear when Ibn al-Sheikh
Page 135 and 136: Mostafa al-Mehdi (see above) saw al
Page 137 and 138: VI. Detainees Rendered From Other A
Page 139 and 140: appointed a lawyer who he said did
Page 141 and 142: In early 2008 he was charged with b
Page 143 and 144: government. After 1992, when the go
Page 145 and 146: governments during the Gaddafi gove
Page 147 and 148: conflict or emergency, may “opt o
Page 149 and 150: them to Libya in violation of their
Page 151 and 152: each country to which the agency de
Page 153 and 154: shelving the Gibson Inquiry and wou
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To the US Congress • Create an in
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To the Government of the Netherland
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Acknowledgments This report was wri
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Recreation of Document 2144 SUBJECT
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Translation of Documents 2164-65 Al
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Delivered Into Enemy Hands US-Led A
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Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

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