PUBLICAI Index: AFR 04/02/98

8 May 1998

Further information on UA 18/98 (AFR 04/01/98, 20 January 1998) - Refoulement / Fear of torture

DJIBOUTI / ETHIOPIAAli 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

No information is known concerning the fate of the six above-named Ethiopians, arrested in Djibouti on 14 January 1998 and handed over the Ethiopian authorities a few days later, though it is suspected that they are still in detention.

Among the six returned are a recognized refugee and three asylum-seekers known to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Djibouti. All are members of the Oromo ethnic group and 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.

Action on the above will now be passed over to other networks. No further action by the urgent action network is therefore required. Many thanks to all who took part.