Abdul Rahman Alhaj Ali
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2017-053-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2017
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 31.791702
Longitude: -7.09261999999999
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Morocco
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Treaty Bodies: CAT
- Dates of prior UN action
- 10 March 2017; 11 March 2017
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- Yes
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
a Syrian national registered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and seeking asylum in Morocco,
- Type of rights defended
- Unclear in SG Report
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
reportedly related to the complaint made to the Committee on his behalf on 22 May 2015.
On 3 August 2016, the Committee against Torture, in Abdul Rahman Alhaj Ali v. Morocco, found a that the extradition of Abdul Rahman Alhaj Ali would constitute a breach of article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (see CAT C/58/D/682/2015 and communication No. 682/2015).
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Treaty Bodies: CAT
- Dates of engagement
- 22 May 2015; 3 August 2016
- Type of attempted engagement
- Submission of information to UN
- UN raised case of person/organization
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- Since 2015
- Reprisal information
detained in October 2014 in Morocco on an extradition request by Saudi Arabia for “breach of trust” based on previous business relations in Riyadh.
Extradition detention for almost two years, far in excess of the 60-day pretrial period provided for in Morocco.
On 8 March 2017, Mr. Abdul Rahman Alhaj Ali informed the Committee that, while he was on a hunger-strike to protest against his detention for almost three years, he was advised by officials that he was not going to be released from detention in Morocco, and that he should rather accept to be extradited to Saudi Arabia. He therefore signed an extradition agreement under duress, which he subsequently requested to withdraw.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Detention/Imprisonment: Detention/Imprisonment - General
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Further case development
Mr. Abdul Rahman Alhaj Ali still remains in detention.
- Government response dates
- 22 May 2017
- Government response content
On 22 May 2017, the Government responded that the complainant is being regularly visited, due to the absence of his family in Morocco, by NGOs and the delegation of UNHCR, that his rights as a detainee have been respected, and that he had ended his hunger strike. The Government further informedthat the judicial authority has accepted that Mr. Ali had withdrawn his request for extradition allegedly signed under threat.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2018
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
37.In the 2017 report of the Secretary-General concerns were raised about the prolongation of the detention of Mr. Abdul Rahman Alhaj Ali, which the Committee Against Torture deemedlikely tobe related to the complaint to CAT on his behalf on 22 May 2015 (see A/HRC/36/31 para. 42 and Annex paras. 51-52).On 3 August 2016, the Committee against Torture, in Abdul Rahman Alhaj Ali v. Morocco, found that the extradition of Mr. Alhaj Ali would constitute a breach of Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT C/58/D/682/2015 and communication No.682/2015).Mr. Alhaj Ali, a Syrian national registered with the United Nations High Commissionerfor Refugees and seeking asylum in Morocco, was detained in October 2014 in Morocco on an extradition request by Saudi Arabia for “breach of trust” based on previous business relations in Riyadh.The Committee urged the Government to release him or to tryhim if charges are brought against him in Morocco, as he had been in extradition detention for almost two years, far in excess of the sixty-day pretrial period provided for in Morocco. 38.According to updated information received by the Committee, during his detention in 2017 Mr. Alhaj Ali was twice summoned to the Prosecutor’s office, where he was reportedly notified that the extension of his detention resulted from action on behalf before the CAT.On 5 October 2017, the Committee requested the Governmentto provide further information, within 2 months, on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s decision in this case.On 28 November 2017, the Committee decided to request a meeting with a representative of Morocco during its sixty-third Session, 23 April to 18 May 2018. On 17 May 2018, the Committee’s Rapporteur on Reprisals, together with the rapporteur for follow-up to decisions on individual complaints under Art. 22, met with a representative of the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco in Geneva to discuss, inter alia, the implementation of the Committee’s decision in the present case (CAT/C/62/3 of 20 February 2018 and CAT/C/63/3). 39. On 6 June 2018, the Government confirmed that the complainant was released from detention on 16 May 2018, after more than three-and-a-half years of arbitrary detention. He is reported to be awaiting resettlement to the Netherlands where his family resides.
- Followup Trends 0
- Improvement
- Did the government respond? 0
- Yes
- Was this case followed up by a UN body? 0
- UN Treaty Bodies: CAT