April 04, 2007
Lorne Waldman

Prime Minister Stephen Harper appears intent on launching Canada into a spring electoral campaign where his promise to enact new legislation to protect Canadians will certainly be one of its major themes. But for Bashir Makhtal, Harper's promises ring hollow.

Makhtal is a refugee who came to Canada in 1991. He became a Canadian citizen and studied here before deciding to move to Kenya to set up a business there in 2001. He was living peacefully in Kenya and had recently married.

All this changed last December when he was arrested at the Kenya-Somalia border. After three weeks of detention in Kenya, he was secretly spirited out of that country by plane to Ethiopia on Jan. 20, 2007, two days before his petition for habeas corpus was to be heard in the Kenyan Supreme Court.

Once he arrived in Ethiopia, he simply disappeared.

The Ethiopian government refuses to acknowledge his detention despite the fact that human rights organizations have obtained the flight manifest, which proves he was flown to Ethiopia from Nairobi together with dozens of other detainees. He is being held incommunicado by a regime know for serious human rights abuses, including torture.

The Canadian government has known of this situation since the day it occurred. Makhtal had been visited in Kenya on two occasions by officials of the Canadian High Commission before he was spirited out of the country.

When human rights organizations learned of this "rendition" to Ethiopia they became deeply concerned about Makhtal's safety because it is well known that persons who are held in unacknowledged detention face the most serious risk of harm.

Makhtal's detention has not even been acknowledged in Ethiopia by the government there but it has already begun leaking rumours about Makhtal in order to justify its actions.

The Ethiopians have let it be known that Makhtal is the grandson of Makhtal Dahir who was once a leader of the Ogaden National Liberation Front.

But Makhtal last set foot in Ethiopia when he was 11 years old, has never been back and never had any connection with that organization.

Since when does being the grandson of a former rebel leader justify holding someone incommunicado?

Other rumours are circulating, implying that Makhtal might in some way be linked to the Islamic Courts regime in Somalia simply because he fled that country at the time of the overthrow of that regime by Ethiopian troops.

These innuendos bear a shocking resemblance to the campaign of leaks used against Maher Arar while he was being held in a grave-like cell in Syria. It seems that any notorious regime can seek to justify violations of human rights simply by implying that the detainee might in some way be connected to terrorism.

Makhtal's family has approached the Canadian government asking for help to save his life. The Canadian government's response to date has been disappointing.

The family was told that Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay did approach the Ethiopian ambassador once and asked about Makhtal's whereabouts and that an official from foreign affairs might have made an approach in Ethiopia.

But when one considers that Makhtal has been held in Ethiopia for more than two months without any official acknowledgment of his detention, this response is simply not enough. Until his detention is acknowledged, Makhtal cannot even count on the normal protections available to any detained person.

Canada cannot tolerate the complete disrespect of Makhtal's most fundamental rights by both Kenya and Ethiopia.

Although Canadian officials have known for two months that Makhtal was illegally taken from a prison in Kenya and was put on a plane for Ethiopia, Canada has not launched an official protest against Kenya's actions. Canada must do so immediately and must make it clear to that government that any further acts against other Canadians will have serious consequences.

And since the Ethiopian government has broken numerous international obligations by refusing to even acknowledge Makhtal's detention, our government must take strong steps if its promises that it will act to protect Canadians are to be taken seriously.

The Prime Minister must get personally involved in the case. He must demand that Ethiopia acknowledge that they are holding Makhtal.

As opposed to the situation when Arar was held in Syria, Canada does have a great deal of leverage with Ethiopia, which is a major recipient of aid from Canada.

If Canadians are expected to seriously believe that our government is concerned about protecting Canadian citizens then Ottawa must take immediate action to save the life of Makhtal.

Empty rhetoric about protecting Canadian society will not convince us that this government is serious.

And as we all know, actions speak louder than words.

--The Toronto Star
SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A15

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Lorne Waldman is a Toronto lawyer specializing in immigration and refugee law. He is representing the family of Bashir Makthal.

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