Tunisian says UN list deprives him of human rights

A TUNISIAN man living in Dublin yesterday took a case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg claiming he was being deprived of his human rights after being put on a UN list of al-Qaida suspects.

The 42-year-old said his wife and six children have been reduced to subsistence living since the EU adopted the list of alleged Osama bin Laden associates.

Chafig Ayadi arrived in Ireland in 1997 having lived in a several countries and under a number of names.

Fours years ago the United Nations Security Council added his name to a list of terrorist suspects whose assets and bank accounts were to be frozen. He has since been living on the dole unable to get a job or become self-employed because of the regulation.

His barrister, Simon Cox, told the court, “The list debases the individual life to sheer subsistence.”

There was no time limit on the freezing of bank accounts and assets and while the list was reviewed annually by the UN Security Council it could mean the person would never again have access to their assets.

Mr Ayadi, who was not in court, was refused a taxi license in Ireland and his lawyers said that according to the regulation, if anybody paid him a fare they would be breaking the law.

Mr Cox told the three judges hearing the case that Mr Ayedi can not accept employment that would produce an income over the subsistence level in Ireland.

People on the list at first had all their income cut off but following a change to the legislation were allowed sufficient for their most basic needs of food, shelter and health treatment.

At the same time Mr Ayadi has never been told why he has been placed on the list, given the details of the case against him or been able to challenge the order.

Two earlier cases were rejected by the Luxembourg Court last month on the basis that freezing of funds did not infringe human rights as it made provision for derogation in the case of humanitarian need.

The Court’s decision in the case taken by Mr Ayadi and the case of a Lybian, Faraj Hassan, resident in London, will be announced in a few months time.