'Carlos the Jackal' Appeals Confinement
AP: STRASBOURG, France - The jailed terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal" appealed Wednesday to the European Court of Human Rights, saying the eight years he was held in solitary confinement in a French jail violated a European human rights treaty.
The Venezuelan, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, complained via his lawyer that the solitary confinement amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment, and that authorities did not follow correct procedure in authorizing it. He is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
Ramirez, 56, was held in solitary confinement from his detention in 1994 until 2002 on grounds of his being dangerous, the need to maintain order and security in the prison and the risk of escape. He is serving a life sentence for the 1975 murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informer.
He said he was detained in a small, dilapidated cell and was authorized to leave it only for a two-hour daily walk.
In January 2005, a lower chamber of the court ruled the long solitary confinement did not breach the European Convention of Human Rights.
Ramirez gained international notoriety as the Cold War-era mastermind of deadly bombings, assassinations and hostage dramas. He is also suspected in the 1976 Palestinian hijacking of a French jetliner in flight to Entebbe, Uganda.
Ramirez was captured in Khartoum, Sudan, in 1994, and hauled in a sack to Paris by French secret service agents.
The Venezuelan, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, complained via his lawyer that the solitary confinement amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment, and that authorities did not follow correct procedure in authorizing it. He is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
Ramirez, 56, was held in solitary confinement from his detention in 1994 until 2002 on grounds of his being dangerous, the need to maintain order and security in the prison and the risk of escape. He is serving a life sentence for the 1975 murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informer.
He said he was detained in a small, dilapidated cell and was authorized to leave it only for a two-hour daily walk.
In January 2005, a lower chamber of the court ruled the long solitary confinement did not breach the European Convention of Human Rights.
Ramirez gained international notoriety as the Cold War-era mastermind of deadly bombings, assassinations and hostage dramas. He is also suspected in the 1976 Palestinian hijacking of a French jetliner in flight to Entebbe, Uganda.
Ramirez was captured in Khartoum, Sudan, in 1994, and hauled in a sack to Paris by French secret service agents.
posted by Marko at 1/26/2006 03:46:00 AM
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