The Government was forced to launch a frantic search for a British citizen being held on death row in Ethiopia after he was transferred from solitary confinement to a notorious federal prison without their knowledge, according to internal Foreign Office documents seen by i.

Diplomats concerned for the welfare of Andy Tsege, a father of three from London who was kidnapped and rendered to Ethiopia in 2014, were informed of the development in an offhand text message from the country’s Foreign Minister, which simply read: “the guy is transferred”.

Campaigners working for the release of Mr Tsege, 61, said the incident showed how the Ethiopians had been able to “run rings” around British officials and proved that the FCO’s softly-softly approach to diplomacy was not working.

Outspoken critic

Mr Tsege, who sought asylum in Britain in 1979 and has been an outspoken critic of the Ethiopian government, was sentenced to death in absentia in 2009 following a mass trial.

Two years ago, on 23 June 2014, he was intercepted at an airport in Yemen and rendered to Ethiopia, where he has been held ever since.

The documents, which were obtained by the human rights charity Reprieve and include emails and FCO case notes relating to Mr Tsege between May and October last year, show how Ethiopian officials repeatedly ignored requests from British diplomats who wanted to visit him in jail and allow him access to medical treatment and a lawyer.

“Throughout Andy’s two-year ordeal, Ethiopian officials have repeatedly run rings around the Foreign Office – making and breaking the most basic of assurances”

Maya Foa, Reprieve

The Ethiopians moved Mr Tsege out of solitary confinement and into a federal prison on 16 July – a development which was only relayed to the FCO through a text message from Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom.

‘Ethiopia’s gulag’

After a search lasting five days, diplomats were eventually told he was being held in Kality Prison outside Addis Ababa, despite the jail initially denying he was there.

Dubbed “Ethiopia’s gulag”, the jail has infamously tough conditions.

Mr Adhanom told Greg Dorey, the British Ambassador to Ethiopia, that there was no “need” for Mr Tsege to have access to a lawyer as his case had already been concluded.

The diplomat was told there would be no legal appeal process and that Mr Tsege must simply “behave well for some time and show he regretted what he had done” if he wanted to be pardoned.

Intransigence of the Ethiopians

The intransigence of the Ethiopians about the case has clearly taken its toll on relations between the two countries.

A year after Mr Tsege was jailed, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warned in a meeting with Mr Adhanom that Ethiopia’s “repeated failure to deliver on our basic requests” had led him to start “looking carefully at the bilateral relationship”.

According to a note of the meeting, Mr Hammond said “people were asking why we had a substantial bilateral relationship but were not able to resolve this”.

Mr Adhanom responded with surprise, claiming that Mr Tsege was being treated “well” and had access to a “laptop and books”.

Legal access

During a visit to Ethiopia at the end of last month, Mr Hammond secured a “commitment” from the Ethiopian government that Mr Tsege would finally be granted access to a lawyer.

An FCO official also visited him in jail and was “satisfied that he is not being ill-treated”.

However, Reprieve pointed out that Ethiopia had failed to honour its previous promises.

“Throughout Andy’s two-year ordeal, Ethiopian officials have repeatedly run rings around the Foreign Office – making and breaking the most basic of assurances, and insisting, again and again, that Andy has no legal rights in Ethiopia,” said Maya Foa, the head of the charity’s death penalty team.

“We don’t recognise the situation presented, which appears very out of date”

FCO spokesman

“By relying on the latest empty promise of ‘legal access’, Philip Hammond is only compounding the abuses Andy has suffered in illegal Ethiopian detention.

“Enough is enough – the Foreign Secretary must call for Andy’s release, so he can return to his family in the UK.”

An FCO spokesman said: “We don’t recognise the situation presented, which appears very out of date. Significant progress has been made on the case of Mr Tsege, with ministerial level lobbying achieving regular consular access, regular family visits, a move to a regular federal prison and most recently, agreement to access to a lawyer.”