EXTERNAL (for general distribution)AI Index: AFR 23/01/94

Distr: UA/SC

UA 06/94 Extrajudicial executions, Fear of Torture12 January 1994

DJIBOUTI

Executed: Ali Balla Youssouf, village chief

(1/1/94) Hassan Kamil Ali

Mohamed Hassan Ali

Hamadou Kamil Hassan

Hamadou Mohamed Hamadou

Mohamed Ali Mohamed

Abdoukadir Youssouf

(8/1/94)Mohamed Adoyta Ewad

Detained: Hamadou Hebano Hamadou

Hassan Mohamed Hamadou

Ahmed Ali Houmed

Mohamed Soumborou Ibiro

Yasin Mohamed

Dini Abdallah Wata

Bourhan Mohamed Youssouf

The first seven of the above named people, all civilians, were reportedly extrajudicially executed on 1 January 1994 by government troops in Day district, 55 kilometres from Tadjourah town in northern Djibouti. They were among dozens of people rounded up by soldiers after fighting nearby on the previous day between government forces and the Front pour la Restauration de l'unité et de la démocratie (FRUD, Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy). The seven were reportedly executed in reprisal for casualties inflicted by the rebels in an ambush on government forces.

Four other civilians, including Mohamed Adoyta Ewad, from a prominent family in Tadjourah, were reportedly executed by soldiers on 8 January after further arrests of suspected FRUD supporters in the area.

Amnesty International fears for the safety of the seven detainees also listed above, who were among several others arrested in Day district in early January and who are still detained on suspicion of supporting the FRUD rebels. Some are held in a military post in Day district, while others have been transferred to police custody in Randa and Tadjourah towns.

There are fears that they have been and continue to be tortured. Amnesty International has previously received reports of torture in similar circumstances in northern Djibouti in September and mid-December 1993. One detainee, Ali Daoud Ali, died in custody after being arrested in Garassou village in mid-December 1993, allegedly as a result of torture.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Fighting between the FRUD and government forces, which has been continuing since 1991, previously flared up in August and September 1993 when major human rights abuses by government troops were reported (see UA 328/93, AI Index: AFR 23/04/93, 16 September 1993). The FRUD draws its support from members of the Afar ethnic group in the north, including the Tadjourah region where the above incidents occurred.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes and airmail letters either in French or in your own language:

- expressing concern at reports of extrajudicial execution of civilians in Day district, and arbitrary detention by the army of suspected opponents;

- calling for an immediate impartial investigation into reports of deliberate killings of civilians and that any members of the security forces responsible for unlawful killings should be brought to justice;

- urging the authorities to give clear public instructions to the armed forces prohibiting unlawful and arbitrary killings of unarmed civilians or captured combatants and bringing to justice anyone responsible for human rights violations;

- calling for guarantees of the protection of the human and legal rights of the civilian detainees, in particular that they should be either brought to court without delay and charged with a recognizable criminal offence, or released;

- urging, as a protection against torture or ill treatment, that the detainees are immediately given access to their families, lawyers and representatives of humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

APPEALS TO

1) Son Excellence Hassan Gouled Aptidon

Président de la République

La Présidence, BP 6

Djibouti, République de Djibouti

Telegrams: Président Hassan Gouled, Djibouti

Telexes: 5871 DJ

Faxes: + 253 355049 / + 253 350174

Salutation: Monsieur le Président de la République

2) Monsieur Ahmed Boulaleh Barreh

Ministre de la Défense nationale

Ministère de la Défense nationale

BP 1905, Djibouti, République de Djibouti

Telegrams: Ministère de la Défense Barreh, Djibouti Telexes: 5871 DJ

Faxes: + 253 355049 / + 253 350174

Salutation: Monsieur le Ministre

3) Monsieur Harbi Farah

Ministre de l'Intérieure

Ministère de l'Intérieure

BP 2086, Djibouti, République de Djibouti

Telegrams: Ministère de l'Intérieure Farah, Djibouti Telexes: 5871 DJ

Faxes: + 253 355049 / + 253 350174

Salutation: Monsieur le Ministre

4) Monsieur Moumin Bahdon Farah

Ministre de la Justice

Ministère de la Justice

BP 12, Djibouti, République de Djibouti

Telegrams: Ministère de la Justice Farah, Djibouti Telexes: 5871 DJ

Faxes: + 253 355049 / + 253 350174

Salutation: Monsieur le Ministre

COPIES TO:

Monsieur Mohamed Ali Afkada

Procureur Général

BP 12, Djibouti, République de Djibouti

Faxes: + 253 355049 / + 253 350174

Monsieur Jean-Paul Noel

President, commission parlementaire sur la situation dans le nord

Assemblé nationale

BP 138, Djibouti, République de Djibouti

Association pour la défense des droits de l'homme et des libertés

BP 2410, Djibouti, République de Djibouti

and to diplomatic representatives of Djibouti accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 23 February 1994.