| Amnesty International | URGENT |
| EXTERNAL | AI Index: AFR 04/01/98 |
| UA 18/98 Refoulement / Fear of torture | |
| DJIBOUTI / ETHIOPIA | Ali
Omar (also known as Ibrahim Ali Osman), refugee
community leader, former university student Sheikh Mussa Hassan Abdi (also known as Souala), Islamic religious leader, former political prisoner in Ethiopia Mourad Ahmed (also known as Mustafa Salih), farmer Mohamed Yusuf Hassan Mohamed, farmer, disabled Abdulwasi Ali |
| The six Ethiopians named
above were arrested by police in Djibouti town on 14
January 1998 and handed over to the Ethiopian authorities
on 19 January. Their whereabouts in detention in Ethiopia
are not known. The six, who include a recognized refugee
and three asylum-seekers, may now be facing torture and
detention for an indefinite period without charge or
trial in Ethiopia, and may be prisoners of conscience. Ali Omar was a recognised refugee and three others - Sheikh Mussa Hassan Abdi, Mourad Ahmed and Mohamed Yusuf - had applied for refugee status and were known to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Djibouti. The status of the other two is not known. All six are members of the Oromo ethnic group. The forced return of refugees and asylum-seekers contravenes the international and regional refugee treaties which Djibouti has signed. Amnesty International fears that some more Oromo refugees in Djibouti may have already been arrested or even returned to Ethiopia, as police or security officers in Djibouti town were reportedly searching for other Oromos. BACKGROUND INFORMATION These arrests are allegedly part of a security agreement between Djibouti and Ethiopia to return each other's particular "wanted" opponents and refugees, despite both countries' ratification of international and regional refugee treaties. In 1996 Djibouti handed over four ethnic Somali opponents to Ethiopia (who were tortured and are still detained) and an Afar opponent (now released), and in 1997 Ethiopia handed over 14 Afar opponents to Djibouti (still detained under judicial investigation). The six Oromos named above were apparently suspected of involvement with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which has been in armed opposition since it left the Ethiopian coalition government in 1992. In Ethiopia there is a pattern of widespread detentions, torture, "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions of suspected OLF supporters. Supporters of Amnesty International around the world are writing urgent appeals in response to the concerns described above. If you would like to join with them in this action or have any queries about the Urgent Action network or Amnesty International in general, please contact one of the following: Ray Mitchell,
ua@amnesty.org.uk (UK) |