Jailed Canadian beaten into confession: Amnesty official
A young Canadian man jailed in Mauritania on terrorismrelated charges says he was beaten into a confession and given no opportunities to defend himself at trial, according to a human-rights official who recently visited him.
Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, says Aaron Yoon told him he was kicked, punched and hit with wooden sticks to the point of losing consciousness. Yoon also said he was placed on the floor with his hands and legs tied behind his back.
“Those torture sessions are all about getting statements wrung out of prisoners,” Neve said in an interview Tuesday after his return to Canada.
“He’s being dealt with through a blatantly unfair trial and appeal process.”
Neve described Yoon’s account as “very compelling” and “very credible” and consistent with what he heard from other prisoners during a 10-day research mission in the West African country.
Neve said he has sent a letter to Diane Ablonczy, minister of state of foreign affairs, appealing to the Canadian government to go on record stating that the torture allegations be investigated and that Yoon receive fair treatment in court.
Prosecutors in Mauritania are seeking to extend 24-year-old Yoon’s two-year sentence to 10 years because of his ties to Ali Medlej and Xristos Katsiroubas — Yoon’s high school friends from London, Ont., who are suspected of involvement in a deadly attack at a gas plant in neighbouring Algeria earlier this year.
The attack left 37 foreign hostages and 29 militants dead. The bodies of Medlej and Katsiroubas were among those recovered from the site.
The court has not yet ruled on extending Yoon’s sentence.
Joshua Zanin, director of communications in Ablonczy’s office, confirmed receipt of the letter Tuesday but had no additional comment.
Neve’s briefing to reporters offered the most detailed account yet of Yoon’s bizarre journey from an Ontario suburb to a Mauritania jail cell, where he reportedly sleeps on a thin mattress on the floor.
According to Neve, the trio of friends left Canada in May 2011, first for Morocco and then to Mauritania, where they intended to study Arabic and the Qu’ran. They spent several months in the capital, Nouakchott, then moved to a school in the village of Naim, about 100 kilometres away in Mauritania. Medlej and Katsiroubas then left separately for Morocco and Lebanon, while Yoon continued with his studies.
In December 2011, Yoon was arrested back in the capital. While in police custody, he claims officers became enraged when he asked for a translator and representation from a lawyer, Neve said.
Yoon also says he was tortured in a dark cell with no windows, Neve added. He particularly recalled the pain caused by a ring on the hand of a police officer, who allegedly punched and slapped him.
At one point, Yoon claims officers bound his hands and feet behind his back to the point where it felt as if his joints were going to pop, Neve said.
Yoon eventually signed an agreement, written in Arabic, stating that he had planned to go to Mali to join al-Qaida forces, Neve said.
When an Amnesty representative first met Yoon in prison a year ago, Yoon turned down an offer for Amnesty to take up his case because he was “mortified” about how his family would react when they learned what had happened to him, Neve explained. But now that his detention has been made public, Yoon is proclaiming his innocence and hopes people will not rush to judge him, Neve said.