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Belgian Sues Belgium for Suffering in Guantanamo Bay | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Detainees in orange jumpsuits sit in a holding area under the watchful eyes of military police during in-processing to the temporary detention facility at Camp X-Ray of Naval Base Guantanamo Bay in this January 11, 2002 file photograph. REUTERS/Stringer/Files


Brussels- Belgian-Moroccan imprisoned for three years in Guantanamo Moussa Zemmouri, 38, has issued proceedings against the Belgian State with the U.N. Committee against Torture.

“Belgium is complicit in his unlawful detention,” his lawyer, Walter Van Steenbrugge, asserted in De Standaard on Friday.

“Belgium exchanged information about my client with the United States. This is entirely unacceptable,” the lawyer went on.

He considered that the Belgian state has done too little to allow Zemmouri to leave Cuba, all the while knowing that he was being tortured there.

The U.N. Committee against Torture has no power to impose any penalties upon Belgium but its judgement has a significant symbolic impact.

The lawyer indicated, “We are taking civil proceedings against Belgium and requesting compensation of up to 50,000 euros for the country’s passive attitude.”

Zemmouri, who is supported by the European Center for Human Rights, was arrested in 2001 in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region on suspicion of terrorism and extradited to the United States.

He was imprisoned for three years on the controversial U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

In April 2005 he was sent back to Belgium without conviction.