THE TRANSIT AND INTERROGATION CENTERS (C. T. T.)

The Army Corps of Algiers (23 visits)

"In these, which are the most numerous and largest centers, the mission considered that satisfactory conditions existed in less than one-third of the centers visited; mediocre or average in one-third; distinctly bad in more than one-third. The mission listed many serious charges and criticisms.

"Conditions appeared good at Beni-Messous (108 persons interned) and at Bou-Kandoura (74). At Moudjebeur (16), where the general impression was also good, two deaths had occurred one on the day after the prisoner's arrival, the other during an attempt to escape - which the report said 'called for greater clarification'. At Palestro (12) and at Port-Gueydon (51) conditions were also judged satisfactory. However, at Palestro, the presence of a minor, fifteen years old, was noted. The commanding colonel of the sector, notified of this, immediately gave orders that the case be examined.

"The situation in a certain number of camps appeared less satisfactory, without being completely bad. In these camps, the menibers of the commission were unable to meet some inmates, although their names were listed among the camp's inmates; they were in the charge of the army, either for the transportation of material, or for 'operational work'. Almost everywhere, when they were able to talk privately with the delegates, the inmates charged that they had been tortured, treated by 'electricity' or 'water' during their questioning. . . . sometimes, although rarely, this had occurred in the camp itself . . . . more often, it took place outside, at the moment of arrest. In every case, the commander, for his part, affirmed his indignation, declared that inhumane treatment was formally prohibited, and promised to investigate and give the necessary instructions so that such practices would cease. As will be described later, in several camps the doctor participating in the mission was able to make examinations whose results unhappily appeared confirm the charges.

"Particular mention is made of the frequency of deaths said to be the result of 'attempts to escape'. The report on the camp at Bou-Gobrine notes: "This question deserves closer study in view of the frequency of such cases'.

"The camps where conditions appeared acceptable are those of Azazga (133) in Kabylie, at the C. D. R. of Bou-Gobrine (58) and at the Camp-des-Chenes, at La Chiffa. The latter is a clandestine Center of Transit and Interrogation (C. T. T.) whose existence was only revealed to the delegates by a chance meeting on the road, of some twenty civilian prisoners escorted by soldiers, and whom they questioned about their destination. At Orleans (26), at the Casino de la Corniche at Algiers (43), at Maison-Carree (30), at Orleansville (194), and finally, at Tizi-Ouzou (248), while somewhat primitive, the conditions of internment and the treatment of prisoners appeared fairly correct.

"Foremost among the camps which were most strongly criticized was Bordj-Menaiel, in Kabylie. From a total of 524 inmates, 15 were on 'operational work'. The men sleep on the ground. The lodgings are qualified as 'disastrous' in virtue of their extreme precariousness and total discomfort. Althought the camp has been in existence for more than three years, the inmates still have no blankets or eating utensils at their disposal, and eat out of cans. Discipline is exceptionally harsh, and all the isolation cells were occupied. Moreover, an earlier visit by the previous mission on December 11, 1958, had pointed out the same facts, and had emphatically called the attention of the authorities to conditions in this camp.

"This time, the mission made two successive visits to the camp of Bordj-Menaiel. On October 30, it found the inmates 'completely terrorized', begging the delegates not to reveal their declarations 'from fear of being beaten or even killed in reprisal'. While recognizing that the attitude of the camp guard was correct, the inmates charged that inhumane treatment and torture had been practiced during the interrogation in quarters annexed to the camp.

"The report noted: 'About 60 sick or suffering inmates were suddenly removed from the camp before our visit'. In one solitary confinement cell, the delegates found an inmate

with large scars covering his face, swollen and disfiguring marks on his chest, broken ribs, numerous scratches on his legs, and circular scars on both ankles. According to the man's statements, these wounds were inflicted upon him during a questioning period. He was left without medical attention for 48 hours.

"A little later, the report declares: "The earlier visits, and the talk we had just had with the officers-in-charge plus their negative attitude, confirm our impression that, on their part, it is a question of a position taken, and any request for improvement is useless. We cannot prevent ourselves from thinking that the miserable conditions in this camp are desired and form part of a system. If, in the short run, this attitude can procure some results (by these methods, the intelligence service appears to have obtained some important results) it is on the other hand, inhumane, and in flagrant contradiction to elementary humanitarian principles.'

"The committee immediately asked to see General Challe. Following this meeting, an investigation was ordered. On November 24, the mission returned to the camp of Bordj-Menaiel. The barracks had been repainted, cleaned up, and the general conditions of internment were improved. The report notes: 'We had private talks with several inmates. The general atmosphere is changed. There is no longer any serious complaint. The cruel treatment during questioning has been stopped.'

"During the time between the two visits, the total number of persons held in the camp dropped from 524 to 363. The normal capacity of the camp is 300 according to the camp directors, but in the opinion of the mission, it is between 120 and 150.

"The same criticism, but somewhat less acute and general is directed against the camp of Bou-Gobrine (152), where six deaths occured during the past month, all described as taking place during ‘attempts to escape while being taken to the interrogation officer'; at Bouira (98), at La Bouzareah (15); at Cinq-Palmiers near Warnier, which is both a Center of Transit and Interrogation and a Military Internment Center; at Damiette (716); at the Chenu Farm near Blida (101),

and in its two connecting camps; finally, at Paul-Cazelles (104). In the pages of the report, it appears that during the visit to the Center of Transit and Interrogation at Cinq-Palmiers, a cell was discovered in which six inmates were held - three with marks of recent bruises, and in their midst, the corpse of a man who had died during the night still lay (the visit took place much later, at 11:30 in the morning). The Commission, having requested the death certificates for five deaths which occurred between October 12 and 18, noted that all carried the same prognostic: 'prolonged poisoning by tear gas'. The men had been forced out of a cave several days earlier by means of tear gas. The mission expresses astonishment that they were neither hospitalized, nor treated, and that one of them died - as a result of this - more than a month after his capture. The mission protested the total absence of blankets and demanded that the ground be covered by a layer of wood or straw. They were answered that wood is expensive, and funds are lacking. The mission also protested against the absence of an infirmary, and that the wounded were left without care, lying on the bare ground, without any covering.

"In most of these camps, the mission noted that many inmates had been kept for more than three months, sometimes even for more than a year, whereas the legal detention period in a Camp of Transit and Interrogation is officially limited to three months.

"Finally, in the report on the camp of the Casino de la Corniche d'Alger, the following paragraph appears:

""With regard to cruel treatment inflicted during questioning, the colonel in charge explained that "the fight against terrorism makes certain methods of questioning indispensable, methods which permit human lives to be spared and new attacks prevented." He assured us, however, that in his sector, these methods are reserved for certain special cases, that they are not generalized, and are only applied under the responsibility of an officer.'

The Army Corps of Constantine (9 visits)

"In this region, where the conclusions are to a large extent the same as in the Algiers region, the conditions of in

ternment appear somewhat better in the Camps of Transit and Interrogation, which are judged satisfactory, and sometimes even 'very satisfactory' in six of the nine camps visited, passable in the seventh, and bad in only two.

"They are noted as good at Batna (camp of the Lucas Farm, at Ain-Skrouna), where, however, 29 inmates were on 'operational work' and one was dead following an attempt to escape from a total of 220 inmates. A good impression was also made at El-Ksob (137), at La Calle-Morris (72), at KsarThir (276) and at Souk-Ahras (71).

"The situation at the Ameziane Farm, near Constantine (117) was said to be in need of improvement. This center had not been pointed out to the mission, which learned of it through the inmates of a Center situated nearby. Officially, it is called a 'provisional' center of interrogation, but the delegates affirmed that certain suspected individuals had been held there for several weeks, more than a month, and in one case, for fifty-five days. At Ouled-Attalah (337) in the region of Bone, the sanitary conditions were judged deplorable, with a total lack of running water inside the camp. The report notes: 'It is evident that the idea of locating such a large Center of Transit and Interrogation in such an unhealthy region completely lacking in running water, is very unfortunate. In the more than two years of the camp's existence, some solution should have been found.' According to their statements, before being transferred to this Center, most of the inmates had spent more or less prolonged periods of detention in centers of interrogation which are not mentioned in any of the official lists given to the Red Cross. For the region of Bone, alone, it appears that eight such centers exist, all listed by name in the report.

"The most unfavorable report in this particular series is directed against the camp of Colbert (267) where the material conditions are described as 'extremely bad', a situation 'even more inexcusable since this Center of Transit and Interrogation has existed for three years'. The moral situation is no better. These offenses are justified by the officers in terms of a lack of funds. The mission protested that it was only able to see 44 inmates out of a total of 267 in a camp whose