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Accounts including abuses since 2007 N.xi. Name redacted. This young lady is a well known figure in Ethiopia who lives in great fear in Kenya and whose history would make her easily identifiable. In the last three years, she received death threats, was detained incommunicado in police stations in central Oromia, was held blindfolded in the Oromia Police Commission building in Kasa Inchis, Addis Ababa, and was imprisoned in Maikelawi CID. 'Everybody knows about that notorious place. I was interrogated and they touched my body, two or three at a time, turn by turn. I was raped so many times. I can't remember how many times. It was not every day. Sometimes the interrogators were kind. It was worse in the first one or two weeks, after that it was about two days per week.' In Kenya She stayed at first with a married man and his wife and son, but she was repeatedly raped by him. She is extremely frightened of being sent back to Ethiopia. Many of her family have been killed or detained. One of her close friends has been subjected to refoulement to Ethiopia. 'Going to UNHCR is like inviting the enemy to see you. All postponements on the same day will be reviewed on the same day. So enemies who see you one day will know when to see you again.' 'Many Oromos suffer with UNHCR. A lot of Oromo women suffer. People visit here and write something about the women. But nothing has come out in support of us. I could have got educated. What is our hope? Especially nowadays we are in great fear, talking about our problem.' Girma Challa Desis, former MP for Meta Robi District, W. Showa. Girma was elected Oromo National Congress (now renamed Oromo People's Congress) party MP for this 100,000 constituency in 2005. He was arrested in April 2008, shortly after two bombs exploded in Addis Ababa on 13 April. Girma was detained initially at Awassa Immigration Office and for the remainder of his eight month detention was held in Maikelawi CID in Addis Ababa. He was denied access to family and legal representative throughout his detention and was not taken to court. He fled immediately on release in December 2008. He was 'mistreated' in detention but circumstances did not allow him to provide details of this mistreatment. Dida Godana, 30, Mega, Borana. He was a cattle trader who had been detained three times. During a brief interview, he described being arrested in April 2008 after being shot in the chest. He was detained in Boku Loboma and tied together with another prisoner. The other man was shot dead shortly after they were tied together. He remained tied to the corpse for three days. Dida was told that if he told anyone about it, he would be killed. He was then made to bury the dead man. Abdulkadir Mame, 33, Shashemane, Arsi. Abdulkadir was a primary school teacher, and then school director before holding administrative positions in the OPDO, culminating in his being Government Jobs Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, W. Arsi Zone. He was detained for four months at Malka Wakana military camp in 1998, where he was beaten, whipped with electric cable and suspended by his tied hands. In 2008, he was detained incommunicado at Zeway military camp for four months, shackled throughout and intimidated at gun point. At one point he was denied food for three days. Finally, he was held in the Third Police Station, Addis Ababa, Maikelawi CID (see footnote, p. 19), from 1 January to 3 March 2010.[9] This last detention was the worst. Every day he was flogged, with sticks and electric cable. He was held incommunicado in solitary confinement in a dark underground cell, with only the clothes he was wearing when arrested. He lost a tooth from being beaten. He was starved for four days. After 45 days he was moved to a cell where he was kept with 'people with unsound minds'. He was eventually released by court order after signing a document stating that he would never question the government, that he accepted the blame for his arrest, that the government was not at fault, and that he would report daily to Shashemane police station. Security forces objected to his release and he was ordered to work for the EPRDF in the run-up to the May 2010 elections. Failure to do so would bar him from any government work in the future, he was told. Despite this, he refused. He then received threatening phone calls and was personally intimidated. He fled when shown a copy of a letter to the Supreme Court appealing against his release and being informed that the authorities wanted to arrest him again. He fled to Kenya in 2010. 'They are searching for me in Ethiopia. I know many secrets - how the government persecutes Oromo people. They are calling various people in the diaspora to find me.' Workneh Dinsa, 58, Nekemte, Wallega. School teacher, Dalo primary school, Nekemte.
He was forced into hiding in Debre Zeit for 15 days to avoid detention before the May 2010 elections and was called to the police station two days after them. He was beaten about the head with the barrel of a pistol and it was pointed at his face, while he was told 'We can just eliminate you.' He gathered his three youngest children, aged 14-18, and arrived in Nairobi on 8 September, just 11 days before this interview. Other reported abuses in Ethiopia Deaths in Goba prison Beker Mame was detained in Goba Civil Prison, Bale, and reported that the following of his fellow prisoners died from torture and neglect in that prison: Haji Ibrahim Hussein, from Robee, Cinana, died 1996 Mohammed Raytu, Daamole, 1996 Muktar Kedir Adam, Abcheche, Gasera, 1996 Haji Abda Hussein, Gidaja, Cinana, 1996 Hussein Bati Bedasso, Abcheche, Daamole, 1996 Ms Fathiya Temam Jarso, Robee, Cinana, 1997 Abdulbasit Beyan, Har'eku, Beltu, 1997 Tahir Abdulrahman, Beajja, Ginir, 1997 Abdulkadir Haji Usme, Bokeji, Agarfa, 1997 Haji Umer Ali, Seymana, Dinsho, 1997 Mohammed-Amin Haji Umer, Seymana, Dinsho, 1997 Abdulah She-Adam, Kejewa, Beitu, 1997 Sultan Adem, Seymana, Dinsho, 1998 Jemal Adem, Seymana, Dinsho, 1998 Beker Aliyi, Raytu, Ginir, 1998 Mohammed Kalil Haji, Mederso, Agarfa, 1998 Kedir Gebena, Raytu, Daamole, 1998 Shu'eyb Hamu Tiyse, Goro, Goro, 1998 Jeylan Geletu Genemo, Boqoji, Agarfa, 1998 Killings in Guji Boru Gilo, a 35 year old who was detained at Ginir, Bale, from 1997 to 2002, where he was beaten, bound with wire and whipped with electric cable, reported that in late 1992, five men were shot dead, including a man named Qala from Arsi and another named Galgalo from Guji, for no apparent reason. They were shot by government soldiers while walking from the market at Hara Qalo, near Lega Dembi, where they had been looking for gold. Abuses and incidents in Kenya Oromo refugees are liable to abuse from host communities in Kenya, the Kenyan police, other refugees (Somali, Ethiopian and Oromo) and agents acting on behalf of the Ethiopian government. The accounts given above include many of the problems which were reported. The following accounts were also obtained during structured interviews and other meetings with individuals and groups of refugees. The journey through Kenya In addition to the accounts given above, a tearful 20 year old school student from Bale, who was fleeing forced marriage with a 60 year old man in 2008, described how a friend of hers was caught and detained at the border. The journey from the border to Nairobi proved problematic for several. A 30 year old evangelical church pastor managed the journey on the roof of a bus, curled up under a tarpaulin. A group of three Borana herders and farmers claimed that Kenyan police commonly apprehended refugees between Moyale and Nairobi and were paid for them by Ethiopian security forces who took them back over the border. A secondary school teacher in his 50s from Ambo, told of his fleeing after seven episodes of detention, when being sought for the eighth time. He reported to the immigration office on the Kenyan side of Moyale, but when the person to whom he had reported did not show up in court the next day, he was imprisoned for three months. He was told he could be released if he paid a 50,000 Sh fine. But all he had was the clothes he was wearing when he fled. When he reached Nairobi, he was again detained for 17 days, at Jomo Kenyatta airport. A court ordered for him to be taken to UNHCR, where he was registered and sent to Kakuma. Kakuma As well as the accounts of theft and rape in Kakuma, which are recorded in the main section of this report, other information about insecurity in Kakuma and its effects on refugees was obtained. Dr Mohamed Qassim, Head of the Kakuma Sub-office of UNHCR, said that security there was not good, especially at night. Five were killed in armed robberies in 2008. Refugees corroborated his report that security had thereafter improved with an increased presence of security forces, supported by the Lutheran World Federation. There were no killings in 2009. However, in 2010 an armed robber killed a 12 day old Somali baby in the camp and wounded the baby's mother. In a meeting with five women in Kakuma, four whose husbands had disappeared or died, fear and insecurity were said to be their predominant concerns. They all found the food ration inadequate and were fearful of being unable to cope with illness and providing clothing and adequate food for their children. However, physical security, especially from rape by 'men with guns', 'in the dark' preoccupied them. One 40 year old said she heard of one case of rape every week on average. Three said they could not sleep because of fear. A 34 year old former detainee said 'I can't count the number beaten and raped here. I spent six years and four months in prison in Ethiopia and I feel more frightened here.' 'All are vulnerable but young women are the most vulnerable.' There are about 70 single mothers in Kakuma One camp, seven or eight with teenage daughters, who live in constant fear of attack by men intent on raping them or their daughters. A 30 year old from Bale, whose husband disappeared in September 2009, described how her nights are disturbed because she fears every slight noise is due to someone trying to break in through her roof. One 45 year old single mother whose child was prone to nocturnal fits felt unable to summon help, saying 'People are too frightened to come and help at night'.
Damitu Gagay Loliso, 32, Arsi Negele, reported that her husband committed suicide by hanging on 28.8.08. She has a 13 year old son. She is unable to sleep because of fear of attack and anxiety. She worries about the future of her son. 'Two rations are not enough for us. We need clothing. I report my problems to UNHCR but they do nothing. I was profiled for resettlement in 2008 but they refused. We have been in Kakuma for six years.' The chair of the Oromo women's community, who had worked on a film on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence for FilmAid, said that 20% of single mothers resorted to prostitution. Two of the women interviewed had become pregnant because of selling sex in this way. Both had a previous history of being raped, one in Ethiopia and one in Kakuma. Several women said they had found it necessary to get married because they needed protection. Marital disharmony and separation was commonly reported. Two of the women interviewed in Kakuma had been physically attacked by their husbands. Dadaab The chairman of the Oromo community in Dagahaley reported incidents which had not previously been recorded by OSG: the killing of a man named Alemu in 1998 in Hagadera; the suicide of Mohammed Hussein; the rape of a 12 year old girl at Ifo camp in 2003; serious injuries from attacks by other refugees on five individuals in 2002 and 2003; the fleeing of one man (2003), an unaccompanied mother and her daughter (2002) and a family of nine (2002) from the camps because of abuse and threats by other refugees; several robberies, and; the disappearance from the camps of Bayan Jaylan, Hailu Adugna, Ismael Mohammed, Mohammed Jamal and others. Other incidents of severe beatings, stabbing and theft in 2008 were reported by refugees. Refugees in Dagahaley reported the stabbing to death in 2004 of a young man in his twenties, named Endale, because he had been hired to work for an NGO. Several incidents of robbery, often with violence, were reported directly to OSG. In each of the three camps at Dadaab,however, the main complaint was fear because of the hostility of Somali refugees and Kenyan Somalis towards Ethiopians (see footnote, p.11), their branding of Oromo as 'gaal', whether they were Christian or Muslim, and their refusal to allow any non-Somali business activity. The former owner of the house where interviews were held in Hagadera camp, Iyya Liban Jilo, ca32, was stabbed in the back and right side in August/September 2009 because he had opposed a Somali obtaining property in that block. He had established, overcoming initial refusal of permission and paying high a rent, a small pool hall in the market. The premises were destroyed and he was severely beaten in 2007. He was resettled as a protection case, to the USA in March 2010. Asli fled with her family from Somalia when she was one year old. She grew up in Hagadera. Her husband came in 2004 and is a Somali-speaking Oromo. They met in the market and married in 2008 'because of love'. They have two children of 18 months and 4 months. Asli was chased away from her home and does not go back to her part of the block. Her Somali community accused her husband of raping her. He was found guilty and was sent to Kamiti prison, Nairobi, on 6 November 2009, where he is serving a ten year sentence. Burkar Magarssa, 25, built his house in a Somali block in Hagadera because of lack of space in the Oromo block in January 2008. In April 2008, he returned from the market to find it destroyed and was told 'You are Oromo. Who told you to build a house here? You should not build on this block.' He now lives with Somalis on that block. Nairobi Most refugees in Eastleigh reported being arrested by police. Every one of 14 present at one meeting had been arrested, some many times. It was said that the police now took people slowly to the police station so they had time to phone relatives or friends to bring money. Sometimes they even lent telephones to the refugees so they could make these calls. The price charged for release was usually 4-5000 Sh, but they would settle for less, sometimes as little as 500 Sh, or the refugee's mobile phone if they were convinced that was all they had. The practice is becoming less common, possibly because of the change in government and the new constitution and possibly because of the increased level of legal protection by the Refugee Consortium of Kenya and Kituo cha Sheria. Gang violence remains a problem. Armed gangs visit Eastleigh every week, stealing money, cars and mobile phones. Abdulkadir Haji, 84, reported: 'When I came in 2002, it was impossible to even urinate outside. Police came with socks full of stones to break down our doors. You could not go out to see the light outside. You could not collect money which relatives had sent to banks. Police stayed in front of the banks and captured refugees in their cars. This is how they mistreated us. People tried to send women to collect the money and stayed at home. Someone gave me $800 to keep for him. Four of them beat me and took the money. 800 people were collected in one night. Some were thrown from the building and were broken. It is improving under Kibaki. We can move out and get back home now. The greatest fear among refugees in Nairobi is of apprehension by agents of the Ethiopian government and refoulement. Ethiopian government activity in Kenya Theft and abduction in 1992 Jemal Adem Tahir, a 41 year old from E. Hararge, fled from the Derg regime in 1985 and has been a refugee in Kenya since 1991. He reported that in October 1992, Ethiopian soldiers came to Moyale and searched properties on both sides of the border. They found Oromo literature and the OLF flag in his home. His brother, visiting for one month from Hararge, and Jemal's wife, were beaten and taken into custody. Gold, jewellery and electrical goods were stolen by the soldiers. He had escaped and was joined in hiding by his wife, still bleeding from her beating. They both went to Walda refugee camp on 10 October 1992. Later that year, TPLF soldiers came to Walda camp and took away many people, including local Kenyan Borana Oromo. Jemal and his wife therefore transferred to Kakuma in 1993. Kakuma Refugees reported that in 1994 Jemal Midaka was abducted from Kakuma and later returned with an ICRC certificate confirming his detention in Ethiopia following the abduction. He is now resettled in the USA. In 2005, four Ethiopian agents were arrested and deported after coming to the camp looking for specific Oromos. In 2006, Mohammed Ali disappeared from the camp. All of the 11 at a group meeting on 12 September were convinced he had been abducted by Ethiopian government agents. Others were believed to have disappeared on their way to Nairobi. A member of the Ethiopian community, the owner of Kakuma Laundry Soap Project, was a healthy man in his 40s. In 2007/8, he was found dead in a hotel in Nairobi, where he went to pick up some machinery. It is suspected he was poisoned by Ethiopian government agents. Dadaab A delegation from the Ethiopian embassy came to Dadaab in 2001 seeking permission from UNHCR to speak to Ethiopian and Oromo refugees to persuade them to join the armed forces. About 30 former Derg soldiers, heavy artillery experts, went with them from Ifo, after being promised seven years back pay. Nairobi Several interviewees gave reliable and credible reports of being attacked by agents of the Ethiopian government and of receiving text messages similar to the one received by Boru Wako, a 30 year old from Moyale, in late August 2010, 'Come back to Ethiopia or we'll kill you.' (See accounts given on pp. 4, 5, 19 and 27.) Associates of a man nicknamed Ibsa 'Oromo', reported that he was offered 30,000 Sh to inform on other Oromo by a TPLF general in Nairobi. He reported the incident to RCK and the police anti-corruption squad. The general was arrested on 24.2.10 and found to be carrying Ethiopian military ID. He and his three associates were deported back to Ethiopia. Ibsa was resettled on 29.4.10 as an emergency. A 38 year old former detainee and torture victim from Bale who came to Nairobi in 2000 recounted how he joined a protest outside the Ethiopian embassy. This followed an invitation to refugees in Eastleigh to attend the embassy in 2000. The stated purpose was to raise funds and open an office of the Unity of Ethiopian Refugees Association, but it was a guise for infiltrating the community. He worked as a waiter in the 'Man-to-Man' restaurant on 9th Street in Eastleigh (since renamed '7/11'), where he saw many meetings between Ethiopian embassy staff and people who pretended to be refugees. These were Amharas, Tigreans, Oromo and mixed Amhara-Oromo, and included business people who were 'doing business for the Ethiopian government'. Although they pretended to be refugees, they had Kenyan and Ethiopian passports. He saw them receive payments from embassy staff. He knew of 30-50 informers who infiltrated the Oromo refugee community. 'Some are still there, getting information for the embassy.' 'They came for lunch with the Ethiopian ambassador and the councillor at the embassy at weekends' he said. Other refugees recalled a demonstration by 500-1000 outside UNHCR premises on 26 and 27 December 2005 to protest about being invited to the Ethiopian embassy on the pretext of attending a wedding celebration. Sixty refugees were taken by bus to the embassy and urged to return to Ethiopia, with promises of safety and financial help. None went. One refugee was detained in Kasarani police station by the anti-terrorist police after the protest and a three man delegation from Eastleigh went to demand his release. The names of these three were given by the embassy to the anti-terrorist unit and they were called to report to them. On Kenyan TV, the Ethiopian government said that all Oromo refugees in Kenya belonged to the OLF. A young Oromo, Asafa Lamu, was killed in Kariobangi in June 2010, after complaining to UNHCR and the community that he was being harassed by agents from the Ethiopian embassy who were trying to persuade him to return to Ethiopia. Refoulement In 2009, there were about 300 refugees subject to refoulement from Kenya, and about 500 Ethiopian Somalis were returned to Ethiopia in early 2010, according to Kituo cha Sheria. Three episodes of refoulement of Oromo refugees to Ethiopia are well documented - from Hagadera camp in Dadaab in 2001, and from Nairobi in 2007 and 2008. Three men were also reportedly subject to refoulement from Nairobi in August 2010. Hagadera, Dadaab 2001 Awel Mohammed Hussein, aged 38, a mandate refugee since 2000, was abducted from Hagadera at the end of 2001. He was grabbed from behind and injected with something. He remembers seeing a wheel of a vehicle as he fell and then regaining consciousness in Moyale military barracks. He was badly beaten and subject to 'bastinado' with his arms and legs tied together around a pole and suspended with his feet uppermost, while the soles of his feet were beaten until raw. He was interrogated about any OLF connections. This continued every week until he was first visited by ICRC a year later, in November 2002. He showed an ICRC certificate confirming his detention and visits from ICRC in November and December 2002. He was released in February 2003, probably because of ICRC visits. He now lives away from any refugee community. Nairobi 2007
Left to right: Tesfahun Chemeda and Mesfin Abebe Tesfahun Chemeda and Mesfin Abebe were mandate holding refugees who had been in Kenya since 2005. They had moved address because they had been followed by Ethiopian government spies. The two men were picked up in a restaurant by Kenyan anti-terrorist police on 27 April 2007 and taken to Kamukunji police station, where they were held overnight before being transferred to Giriri police station. Staff from the UNHCR Protection Unit and members of the FBI visited them and reassured them they would not be deported. They kept in touch with a community member and expressed relief at being told by the FBI agents that the Ethiopian government would not be informed about them. The Oromo community instituted habeas corpus proceedings and a court ordered that the Attorney General and Police Commissioner should produce them in court. On 9 May 2007, a senior Nairobi police official and a Kenyan government official told a court that they had already been sent back to Ethiopia to face terrorism charges. They produced a Laissez Passer from the Ethiopian embassy, dated 1 May, which had obviously been backdated as that day was a public holiday. The detainees remained in touch by telephone from within Kenyan custody until at least 11 May, two days after the court hearing. The Kenyan Human Rights Commission, RCK and UNHCR were unable to prevent the refoulement. Tesfahun and Mesfin disappeared in Ethiopian custody until their names appeared on a charge sheet in December 2008. They were convicted on terrorism charges at the end of March 2010. Mesfin Abebe was sentenced to death and Tesfahun Chemeda to life imprisonment. Nairobi 2008
Seifu Magarssa and Gabriel Fekadu were mandate refugees who were refouled in September 2008. A relative of Seifu Magarssa reported sharing a meal with him in Githurai on the evening 18 September 2008, before he was arrested by Kenyan anti-terrorist police. A Tigrean named Daniel called at the building. He was angry with Seifu for asking him to return his air force documents, which he had been holding for six months, ostensibly to enable Seifu to obtain work with Daniel's employer. When he came, they met outside the building. Daniel did not hand over the documents but gave Seifu a telephone number to ring. Seifu returned to the meal and while they were having coffee another Tigrean, Zenebe, from Adua, a volunteer teacher at Mwiki primary school, called Seifu and told him to meet him at Seifu's home so he could hand over the documents. Seifu wrapped up some food to have for breakfast the following day and left. When he reached his home, Zenebe came and greeted him, accompanied by nine Kenyan police who arrived in a minibus. These policemen were carrying the documents and asked Seifu 'Is this you?', to which he replied it was. They then slapped him, took him with them into his home and searched it before removing him to an unknown place. His relative phoned Seifu's phone and when police answered, the relative pretended to be Daniel. The police said 'Don't call on this number again. We will see you soon.' They had obviously been in contact with Daniel and expected to be seeing him again. Next day, about ten police and anti-terrorism officers came in four vehicles to take Gabriel Fekadu. The police were contacted about both arrests and Kituo cha Sheria and the Kenyan Red Cross were informed. Kituo cha Sheria went to court to request the appearance of the two men but were told they had been deported to Ethiopia on 20 September. Zenebe has since been to Ethiopia and returned to Githurai. Seifu and Gabriel disappeared into Ethiopian custody and it is rumoured that Seifu has been killed in detention. Kituo cha Sheria began proceedings against the Kenyan government but these have been withdrawn because of the security risk to Seifu's relatives. Nairobi 2010 Two cattle traders and a farmer from Borana, who were interviewed in Githurai on 19 September, reported the arrest on 22 August of three of their acquaintances who were each waiting for RSD interview with UNHCR: Jatani Kuno, 38, in Nairobi since 2004 Liban Wariyo, 28, in Nairobi since 2009 Miki Doyo, 26, in Nairobi since January 2008 The informants were certain that the men had been taken to Moyale by the Ethiopian government and had heard rumours that they had been taken to Addis Ababa. An Ethiopian had identified them to police at the time of their abduction. Return and fate in other countries Return to Ethiopia The vice-chairman of the Oromo community in Kakuma, Hussein, was only six or seven years old when he came from Walda camp to Kakuma in 1993. His father died aged 55 in 2001, he believes due to torture injuries. When asked why he had not returned to Ethiopia, having no personal history of persecution there, Hussein reported that his step-mother had gone back to Mega, Borana, with his two sisters but had been detained shortly after arrival and tortured. She died from her injuries and her daughters returned to Kakuma in 2008. Djibouti Four refugees reported their experiences in Djibouti, confirming and expanding on reports of refoulement made previously by OSG.[10] In Awr Aousa camp, to which refugees remaining in Djibouti were taken after the expulsion of 100,000 back to Ethiopia at the end of 2003, all refugees were beaten by Djibouti police, they reported. UNHCR provided little protection and did little to prevent the refoulement of most of the remaining refugees, some 3,000, mostly Oromo, in June 2004 . Eleven managed to get to Nairobi. Two have since died, said to be the result of severe beatings in Awr Aousa and Somalia during the journey - Ramadan Yusuf, 26, in 2007, and Sufian Alisho, 30, in late 2006. Others fled to South Africa. Mohammed Said Ibrahim (see p. 3) reported that in September 2003, the Djibouti government moved the remnants of the Oromo refugee community to Awr Aousa camp, 80 km from Djiboutiville. On 5 June 2004, Meles Zenawi visited Djibouti. On 8 June: 'we were rounded up and shipped to the border in military vehicles. Big lorries came from Ethiopia to collect us. If we refused, they shot us. Four hanged themselves in Awr Aousa, including an army colonel. In all, the Red Cross said there were 15,000 people in Awr Aousa. I estimate that 8,000 were Oromo.' 'Seifu Mume poured petrol onto himself but I stopped him killing himself, but even I was looking for poison to swallow. Even the Djibouti soldiers were saddened. In the confusion, many ran off. Several of us escaped in the night. On the outskirts of Djiboutiville, which was flooded at the time, we met Usmail Yusuf. We hid there for three weeks. I got some money from a friend and travelled via Hargeissa, Galkayo and Beledweyne to Mogadishu, where I stayed for a few days before crossing the border with Kenya at Dadachugula on 24 July 2004, from where I got a car to Nairobi.' Puntland Adus Tahir Omar (see p. 3) went to Bosasso, Puntland in 1993. He reported: 'Meles Zenawi sent a big airplane in 2006 [probably January] to collect Oromo refugees. A Somali, possibly an Ethiopian Somali, walked around with Ethiopian security officers, pointing to Oromos, saying 'This is an Oromo. That is an Oromo' and they were taken away. About 500 were taken. Some ran to Hargeissa, others ran to Kenya.' He therefore fled, eventually to Hagadera, arriving in June 2006. One refugee at a group meeting in Kakuma spoke of meeting others in 2006 and 2007 in Somalia and Puntland who had travelled there after being refused mandate status at Kakuma. He described being in a group who had crossed the Red Sea to Yemen. Many had drowned on the crossing and out of the whole group only he had avoided being subject to refoulement from Yemen back to Ethiopia. Somaliland In Eastleigh, two Oromo who had arrived from Hargeissa one and three weeks previously confirmed a report by the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa[11] about the abduction and refoulement of Yasin Adem Ahmed in February 2010. He had received his UNHCR mandate in 2002. They reported there were about 1,600 Oromo refugees (mostly with mandate) in Hargeissa and roughly 3,500 (some with mandate) in Bosasso, Puntland. Although there were many Ethiopian troops in Hargeissa and there was close cooperation between the administration of Somaliland and the Ethiopian government, there had been no more episodes of refoulement since that of Yasin Adem Ahmed. Somalia Obah Abdulkadir Hussein, 27, her husband and their eight children came from Mogadishu to Dadaab in October 2007. She reported that in Mogadishu 'Every time you leave the house, you don't know if you will come back, even before the 2006 invasion.' A bullet glanced her head while she was in Mogadishu. She and her husband estimate that as many as 50,000 Oromo live in Somalia, 10-15,000 in Mogadishu. 'Many have been killed by Somalis because they are Ethiopian. Many are killed by Ethiopian soldiers because they believe they are OLF. Only those who could not run remain there.' Refusal of resettlement by USA and UK Jarso Malicha, 42, who was detained on two occasions (two years 1995-7 and 18 months 1997-8) and tortured with red hot embers applied to his legs, was refused resettlement in the USA because he had 'provided material assistance to a terrorist group'. There were at least six refugees in Kakuma who were thus refused because they had given food, water or shelter to OLF fighters. Refugees elsewhere, including an unaccompanied woman and her daughter who had been in Nairobi for ten years, were also refused for this reason. NGO officials in Nairobi reported that even those who reported providing assistance to the OLF under duress had been refused by the USA on these grounds. Jemal Adem Tahir (see p. 41) has been in Kenya since 1991 and in kakuma camp since 1993. He believes his resettlement case was forgotten until 2005. He was recommended for resettlement in the UK by UNHCR on 26 June 2006 and was told he had been accepted. He had his orientation and medical check by International Organisation for Migration and was prepared. However, others were resettled but he was rejected by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the UK Home Office. In a letter dated 27 December 2006 from the Gateway Protection Programme, he was told that he did not qualify, because: 'information provided casts strong doubts on the veracity of material aspects of your account of events. It is considered you have failed to give a consistent and credible account of your reasons for leaving Ethiopia. You do not have a right of appeal against the decision to refuse your resettlement application. Yours sincerely, Ms J. Bradford. Asylum Casework Directorate.' Acting on the instructions of Jemal's daughter, who is now in the UK, a solicitor has asked UNHCR to resubmit an application to the UK Home Office, but there has been no response. He was told that he would be considered for Australia but was again refused. He said 'Dr Qassim [the Head of the Kakuma Sub-office of UNHCR] told me "You have finished your chance." Now my letters go unanswered and I have grandchildren here.'
Appendix. Targeted assassinations, other killings and attacks 1992 - 2007. Targeted assassinations of Oromo refugees 1992 Jatani Ali, well known Borana Oromo, shot dead in Nairobi. 1997 Tuso Arero shot dead by Ethiopian security forces immediately after being handed over by Kenyan police. Targeted assassinations of Oromo Kenyans 8.2.96 Assistant Chief Tara Sora, his wife and another relative killed when his house in Modo Adi, Sololo, Moyale District, was bombed by TPLF forces. His two young children and his brother were seriously injured. He had previously been injured in September 1994 during an attack by TPLF soldiers on Dambala Fachana (see below). 27.2.96 Giuyo Miyo shot dead near Moyale hospital by TPLF soldiers. 5.3.96 Teacher Anderson Micheni shot dead by TPLF soldiers firing into NCCK compound, Moyale. March 1996 Lawyer Husein Sora, shortly after compiling a report on recent killings and attacks on Oromo, found unconscious near his home in Nairobi and died without regaining consciousness. 5.3.97 Gedi Dika, of Modo Adi, Sololo, Moyale, shot twice in the head and killed by Ethiopian forces. 1998 Buke Liban, Senior Chief, Golole, shot dead by three Ethiopian soldiers. Gallo Wolde, prominent businessman, Moyale, shot dead while ploughing at his farm in Masile, 3 km from Moyale, by two men who returned to Ethiopia. 25.1.99 Oromo nationalist and religious leader, Haji Hassen Ali, the Imam of Jamia Mosque, Moyale, shot dead at his home by Ethiopian gunmen. August 1999 Prominent Boran Oromo, Qalo Waqo Bero, shot dead at close range, 400 metres from his shop in Marsabit, by Ethiopian government hit-men, according to local MP. He had been warned by Ethiopian government agents against sympathising with the OLF. Other killings and attacks on Oromo in Kenya July 1992 Jillo Galma and family detained and tortured by Kenyan police in Marsabit. His father's legs were broken and his brother disappeared. 9.10.92 Civilians Liban Galma and Jillo Gamachu injured when the house of the sister of Butiye Councillor Golicha Galgalo bombed. Two Moyale hospital employees abducted and detained 80 km inside Ethiopia at Boku Loboma until released after intervention of Kenyan government. Early 1994 Molu Boru Liban, a cattle herder, taken from his farm in Dambala Fachana, N. Kenya, disappeared in detention until found shot dead on Oda plain, Moyale District in 1997, three years after his abduction and disappearance. 28.4.94 Halakhe Kinni of Annona, Sololo, shot at by Ethiopian soldiers. 9.9.94 Two charcoal burners killed by TPLF soldiers at Godh Hadheesa, Moyale. 21.9.94 TPLF soldiers attacked a manyatta at Dambala Fachana, killing 12 and injuring 21,including Assistant Chief Tara Sora and 4 policemen. Tara Sora was later killed (8.2.96 - see above). 1995 TPLF forces attacked home of Bori Subdistrict Assistant Chief, Osma Guyo Jatani. Two elders abducted from Bori (later released). 13.7.95 Galma Kalicha Godo abducted by TPLF from his shamba at Annona, Sololo, held for 68 days in Hidi Lola in Ethiopia and tortured. 16.7.95 Corporal Guracha Bisiko, KANU Chairman for Butiye, abducted by TPLF, held in Ethiopia for seven months and tortured, suspected of supporting OLF. Dec. 1995 Home of Asst Chief Abakame, Uran Subdistrict, destroyed in bomb attack by TPLF. 11.1.96 Tulicha Kiya and Huka Bagaja, charcoal burners at Oda, Moyale, killed by TPLF soldiers. 4.2.96 Mohamed Ali and Hussein Salim shot and seriously injured, 300 metres from Moyale Police Station. March 1996 TPLF soldiers attacked Dukana village, Marsabit, killing 23 civilians. Kenyan security forces killed 38 TPLF troops. 12.3.96 Businessman Kalicha Dima, Assistant Chief Ali Godana and another Assistant Chief abducted by TPLF and disappeared into detention in Ethiopia. 22-28.3.97 Over 80 killed, mainly Kenyan Oromo and 19 Kenyan police officers, over 30 women abducted and 4000 animals stolen by well organised armed forces from Ethiopia, believed by local Kenyan politicians to be Ethiopian government troops. Early 1999 Molu Bilida of Uran village, Sololo, shot dead. 15.1.99 Homeguards and civilians were injured and three were abducted by Ethiopian troops during an attack on Dambala Fachana village, N. Kenya. April 1999 Chief Liban Waqo of Dambala Fachana and Rob Dima of Borr detained by Kenyan police on suspicion of harbouring OLF fighters. 17.5.99 Waqo Biru, an Oromo refugee in Kenya, was detained by Kenyan police in Moyale and disappeared in detention. 22.5.99 Around 70 heavily armed Kenyan soldiers ransacked the village of Balessa, N. Horr, rounded up 70 civilians and subjected them to beatings and torture while accusing them of supporting the OLF. Three men were taken into detention for having weapons in their homes. The troops went on to attack a small contingent of OLF fighters had peacefully encamped nearby at El Hadi. 28.5.99 Three men, including Subi Waqqo and Jirma Duubaa, shot dead by Kenyan troops in Marsabit District. July 1999 Three taken by TPLF from border town Modo Adi and held in Ethiopia (later released). 1.9.99 Chief Abdikadir Kedow was among two injured when Ethiopian soldiers attacked Wajir Police Station. Feb. 2000 Kenyan and Ethiopian governments agreed to flush OLF and ONLF from Kenya. 500 Ethiopian troops crossed the border at Moyale shortly afterwards. Restriction of movement of Kenyan Borana followed the deployment. Mid-month, Boru Tari, son of a prominent Sololo businessman, was abducted by Ethiopian soldiers, when conducting business on the Ethiopian side of Moyale. He was still being held in October. Later in February, three Boran Oromo traders who were buying livestock at a market on the Ethiopian side of the town were abducted and detained in the Ethiopian military camp over the border, for questioning on suspected sympathy with the OLF. 28.3.00 After a meeting with Kenya District Commissioner and the District Security Committee at Moyale on 28 March, at least two members of the 15 man Oromo delegation, Sheik Haji Hassan and businessman Galo Walde, were killed. Borutari Haji was abducted and disappeared next day. The home of delegate Roba Dabaso, a former police officer was attacked by grenades. One of the delegates, Ford-Kenya's youth secretary Abdullahi Galgalo, told Daily Nation newspaper in late April, 'We invite human rights organisations . . . to see how the Ethiopian and Kenyan governments are killing us.' He reported that the Kenyan government sent airplanes to investigate the killing of elephants but 'does nothing when a Borana is murdered.' 2.5.00 One week after the April Daily Nation report, at least 50, mainly young Borana men, were shot dead by Kenyan troops in the area between Isiolo and the Ethiopian border. On 30 April there had been a heavily armed attack on a village 15 km from Isiolo, in which 40-70 people were killed and 2000 cattle and other animals stolen. 13.5.00 Six killed and 100 cattle stolen in Sabare area, N. Horr, by 'raiders' from Ethiopia. 8.6.00 In the town of Wajir, Abdi I. Kasim and herdsmen Mohammed Adan Mata and Abdikadir Ibrahim Hinni were killed, others were wounded and 5300 cattle and 950 camels were taken by 60 heavily armed TPLF troops, who accused residents of supporting the OLF. Nov. 2000 Refugee shot dead in Nairobi, believed by relatives in the USA to be a targeted assassination. 30.11.00 Seven women and 2 elderly men killed when 150 Ethiopian soldiers attackedoutpost at Gurar, N. Wajir District. Eight houses were burnt down and Kenyan press claimed 49 civilians killed in that area by Ethiopian soldiers during previous two months. 2.12.00 Twelve killed by Ethiopian soldiers at Gurar trading post, N. Wajir. TheEthiopian embassy claimed that fighting was between Ajuran and Garre people but Ethiopian army uniforms were found on two soldiers who died in the attack. 11.1.01 Ten killed, including eight Kenyan policemen, when more that 200 EPRDF forces backed by pro-government Tabaqa militia men crossed into Kenya and engaged Kenya security forces at Kiltipe in Uran, Moyale District. A policeman who was captured and detained for 16 days at Indilola army camp, 5 km inside Ethiopia, reported that those killed were suspected of supporting the OLF. He was forced to sign a declaration on his release, stating that he and his slain colleagues had been on Ethiopian soil during the incident. 15.1.01 Ethiopian soldiers again attacked Uran, engaging Kenyan forces for three hours. 600 families fled. 8.2.01 Over 30 Boran Oromo killed between Samburu National Park and Isiolo and 15,000 cattle stolen. The attack was blamed on Samburu people. Kenyan Daily Nation reported over 160 civilians and police had been killed by Ethiopian militia in recent attacks. June 2004 One week after requests by Ethiopia at a Border Commission meeting on 3June, 1200-1500 Kenyan troops and police sealed off border towns in Moyale and Marsabit Districts and arrested 63-84 in house-to-house searches. The operation lasted 10-12 days. Injuries from gunshots were reported. Killings were rumoured but not confirmed. Press reports disagreed about whether the detainees were Kenyan or Ethiopian Oromo. 4.9.07 In Moyale, Garomsa Abdisa and an un-named Oromo woman were shot dead 'in front of the Kenyan government office' by Ethiopian soldiers before they withdrew to the Ethiopian side of the border. 2.11.07 Masked gunmen shot dead two refugees and former Addis Ababa university students, Indalkachew Teshome Asefa and Mallas Habib, in their flat in Nairobi. Their Kenyan security guard was also killed. Two brothers of Indalkachew and an elderly neighbour were shot and wounded. The next day, four exiled journalists, including one member of the Ethopian Free Press Journalists Association, were attacked and bound by six gunmen, three said to be TPLF and three Kenyan soldiers, before neighbours beat them off.
Abbreviations EPRDF Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, |
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Workneh was detained twice under the Derg (for two months and for six years) and at least 16 times under the current regime. Twelve of these episodes were of short duration, from one to seven days at Nekemte police station. He was detained for longer periods at the police station and prison in Nekemte on four occasions: from September 1992 to July 1993; six years, from May 1995 to June 2001; February to March 2006, and; February to July 2007. He was beaten but not tortured during these episodes of detention. He was continuously harassed, intimidated, and urged to join the OPDO.
Asli Ibrahim Dawut
