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Appendix A. Sworn Statement of Samir Ben Amor, Attorney

                                    RE:       ABDULLAH AL-HAJJI BEN AMOR

                                    DATE:  JULY 29, 2007

  1. My name is Samir ben Amor. I am a lawyer for Abdullah al-Hajji ben Amor. I live and work in Tunisia. My office is at No. 69 Rue el Djazira, Tunis.
  2. Al-Hajji is 51 years old. He is married to Khadija Bousaidi with eight children. His wife is 37 years old and lives in Tunis.
  3. In 1995, al-Hajji was convicted in absentia in a case with 12 co-defendants for being part of a terrorist organization operating abroad (Article 123 of the Code of Military Justice). Al-Hajji was sentenced to ten years.
  4. The main evidence against al-Hajji was a statement from another co-defendant, Hachmi ben Saad.
  5. I believe that the statement against al-Hajji may have been extracted with torture. It is common for the Ministry of Interior to torture prisoners in order to get them to sign statements like the one used in al-Hajji’s case.
  6. Abdullah al-Hajji was returned from Guantanamo to Tunisia on June 18, 2007.
  7. I have visited Abdullah al-Hajji ben Amor three times since he has been at Mornaguia prison. I visited him was on June 25, 2007, July 12, 2007, and July 23, 2007.
  8. The first time I visited him al-Hajji was very disoriented and confused. The second two visits he was much more coherent.
  9. Al-Hajji told me that he did not know he had been convicted in absentia until he returned to Tunisia.
  10. Al-Hajji told me that if he had known that he had been convicted in Tunisia, he never would have wanted to return to Tunisia. He told me that he wishes he were still in Guantanamo.
  11. Al-Hajji told me that he first learned that he was being transferred back to Tunisia three days before his transfer. He learned of the transfer from an American working in Guantanamo.
  12. Al-Hajji said that the Americans did not tell him that he had a pending conviction in Tunisia.
  13. Al-Hajji said that he was blindfolded on the flight from Guantanamo to Tunisia. He said his hands and legs were handcuffed and he was strapped around his chest to his seat. Al-Hajji told me the flight was very uncomfortable because of the way he was strapped down. He said that he was too uncomfortable to sleep.
  14. Al-Hajji told me that when he arrived in Tunisia, the police put a hood over his head. He said that his handcuffs, which had been in front of his body during the flight, were moved to behind his back.
  15. Al-Hajji said that he was taken to a room somewhere in a building next to where the airplane landed and questioned for about an hour and a half. He said that the questions focused on his identity and his family’s identity.
  16. Al-Hajji told me that after he was interrogated he was taken to the Ministry of Interior. He was transported in a truck with separate blocks for each individual prisoner. He said that it was very uncomfortable and hard to breathe.
  17. Al-Hajji said that he was held in the Ministry of Interior for approximately two days and two nights.
  18. Al-Hajji told me that he was repeatedly interrogated during those two nights and two days he was held in the Ministry of Interior. He said that if he started to fall asleep, the police in the Ministry of Interior would shake him awake. This is sleep deprivation - a form of torture that is practiced widely in Tunisia.
  19. Al-Hajji said that the interrogators slapped him and threatened to rape his wife and daughters.
  20. Al-Hajji said that the interrogators gave him a piece of paper to sign. He could not read what the paper said because he has extremely poor eyesight and his glasses were out of date. Al-Hajji said that he signed the statement because the interrogators threatened to rape his wife and daughters if he did not sign the paper.
  21. On June 20, Al-Hajji was taken to the Military Court in Tunis. He said that he was allowed to sleep for two hours before being taken to military court. He said that this was the first time that he slept in three days.
  22. Al-Hajji challenged his absentia conviction before the Military Court. The Military Court set a retrial date for September 26.
  23. Since June 20, al-Hajji has been held in Mornaguia prison, which is about a half hour drive from Tunis.
  24. Al-Hajji said that he has been held in solitary confinement since his arrival in Mornaguia prison. He said that his cell is “like a tomb.” He said there is a single opening on a ceiling to the view of a roof. Al-Hajji said that there is no ventilation in the cell, and that is very hot. He said that he cannot distinguish between night and day. He cannot pray because he can’t tell the difference between night and day.
  25. Al-Hajji said that he is only taken out of his cell for approximately ten to fifteen minutes a day for “recreation.” But he said the recreation area is small and indoors and does not have any windows or view of the sky.
  26. Al-Hajji said that he does not have any contact with any prisoners. When he is taken out of his cell for any reason the prison guards move all the other prisoners elsewhere so that he cannot have any contact with them.
  27. It is illegal to put Al-Hajji in long-term solitary confinement. Under the law, prisoners can only be held in solitary confinement for disciplinary matters for a period not to exceed ten days. (Law on Prisons, Article16, 2001).
  28. Al-Hajji has very poor eyesight. Although the prison promised to take him to an eye doctor so he could get a prescription for new glasses, he has not yet been taken to see the eye doctor. He has only an old pair of glasses, with a prescription that is out-of-date. He is unable to read with these glasses.
  29. Al-Hajji told me that he felt very strange when he first arrived in the Mornaguia prison. He said it felt like he had been drugged.
  30. Al-Hajji told me that when his family first came to see him he did recognize his daughter. His family said he behaved as if he had been on drugs.
  31. Al-Hajji told me that the International Committee for the Red Cross has come to see him two times since he has been in prison. The first time they visited him, he was meeting with his family and he did not talk to them. On the second visit, al-Hajji talked to the ICRC about how he has been treated since he has been returned to Guantanamo.
  32. Al-Hajji’s family goes to visit him for 15 minutes every Thursday. They have visited him every Thursday since June 25, 2007.
  1. There is a glass separating Al-Hajji from his family members, and they talk by a phone. A guard sits next to Al-Hajji and a guard sits next to the family member.
  2. Al-Hajji’s wife has been questioned by the police many times since Al-Hajji’s return. The local Tunis police require her to report to them after each visit and tell them what she and Al-Hajji discussed. Her home is under constant surveillance by the police.

I hereby swear that the above statement is true and accurate.

Samir ben Amor