From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Oct 03 2008 - 09:43:37 EDT
Ethiopia must release rendition victims: HRW
October 02, 2008
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Wednesday called on the Ethiopian government
[HRW materials] to release rendition victims in custody or prosecute
them in an open court that meets basic fair trial standards. The
renditions were the result of a US-backed Ethiopian military
intervention in neighboring Somalia [JURIST news archive] in late 2006 in support of efforts by Somalia's Transitional Federal Government
[official website] to oust Islamist authorities from Mogadishu. The
fighting caused thousands to flee across the border into Kenya, which
detained at least 150 people from more than 18 countries.
In early
2007, Kenyan authorities rendered dozens of these individuals suspected
of terrorism back to Somalia, where they were handed over to the
Ethiopian military and questioned by US and Ethiopian intelligence
agents. The governments of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia have all denied
illegally transporting and jailing people, claiming they have only
taken action against legitimate suspects. According to Human Rights
Watch, the rendition victims were denied access to their embassies,
their families and international relief organizations. Former prisoners
have complained of solitary confinement and accused Ethiopian
authorities of torture, including the pulling out toenails, holding
loaded guns to their heads, the crushing of genitals and being beaten
to the point of unconsciousness. BBC News has more.
Human Rights Watch initially raised the west African renditions issue in March 2007 when it claimed
[JURIST report] that the US, Kenya, and Ethiopia were cooperating with
the transitional government of Somalia to detain refugees from the
recent conflict there. Canada, Sweden and Eritrea subsequently
pressured Ethiopia [JURIST news archive] to reveal details regarding foreign nationals it has allegedly detained in secret prisons run in collaboration with the FBI and CIA
[JURIST report]. In August last year Kenyan Muslims in Nairobi
protested that suspects detained in Kenya had been flown on secret rendition flights [JURIST news archive] to Ethiopia, where "aggressive interrogation" took place at the hands of Americans.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/10/ethiopia-must-release-rendition-victims.php
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