By JIM BRONSKILL, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Stymied for months in their attempts to gain access to imprisoned Canadian Bashir Makhtal, diplomats were forced to rely on information from “a trusted intermediary,” newly obtained documents show.
At one point last September, Ottawa looked into whether Makhtal would be freed by Ethiopian authorities as part of the African country’s milliennium celebrations — a notion that quickly fizzled.
Hundreds of pages of records released to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act chronicle a trail of frustrated efforts by foreign affairs officials to assist the former Toronto man languishing behind bars in Addis Ababa for a year and a half.
A candid departmental assessment of recent upheaval in Ethiopia underscores the challenges: “Post-electoral violence, judicial processes that did not fully respect due process, and regional or ethnic exclusion in the political system have not been good for Ethiopian politics,” say “talking points” prepared for Makhtal’s case.
Consular officials recently met with him in prison for the first time. He has not been allowed to see a lawyer and there is continuing confusion over why he is being detained.
Makhtal, a Canadian citizen born in Ethiopia, settled in Canada as a refugee and later moved to Kenya, opening a used-clothing business. He was working in Somalia when Ethiopian troops invaded in late 2006. Makhtal fled back to Kenya, but was detained along with several others at the Kenya-Somalia border.
There have been suggestions Makhtal is of interest to the Ethiopian government due to his grandfather’s involvement in a separatist group in the country’s Ogaden region.
New York-based organization Human Rights Watch says Makhtal was among 34 people deported to Somalia from Kenya in 2007. He was then shipped to Ethiopia.
Officially, the foreign affairs department says Ethiopia has not advised it of any charges against Makhtal.
“Through a trusted intermediary, we have been able to verify Mr. Makhtal’s well-being on several occasions,” a briefing note said last November.
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FORUM | 4 Comments
The Canadians are the umbilical chord to the Weyane gangs second to the US. If they wanted the guy to face free trial, they could have done it in a hearts beat. But, oh no, they’d rather play the make belief theater of sounding concerned while doing nothing of significance to get the man free, which I suspect has probably done nothing except perhaps being in the wrong place at the Weyane time.
[Reply]
July 27th, 2008 at 1:07 PM
from a first hand witness/victim of such languish in ethiopian prison the Canadian Government would not do enough to get Mr Bashir Makhtal, considering he is a Canadian Citizen, unlike the U.S Governemt that won their citizen off in days that was detained in Ethiopian.
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July 27th, 2008 at 1:14 PM
This qoute is a lie from the Canadian Foreign Affairs to avoid its responsiblities to enquire about its own citizen:
“Through a trusted intermediary, we have been able to verify Mr. Makhtal’s well-being on several occasions,” a briefing note said last November.
Every Ethiopian-Canadian should call his MP and urge the Canadian government to act. The next time the Woyannies jail you or your own kind, no Ethiopian may try, so it is your turn to do your best. The Conservative Canadian regime under Mr. Harper will not give a damn to Ethiopian-Canadian unless you act.
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July 27th, 2008 at 6:27 PM
what’s the surprise here, really? this is not the first time Meles pinched, twisted, tugged at, pulled and/or did everything he could, WITH IMPUNITY, at Candian and/or US balls/nuts or whatever the latter w’d prefer to call what’s left of their manhood. Even the Europeans in Addis remain so emasculated they couldn’t even rescue their own local lawyer who continues to face trumped up charges that are meant only to silence her…. Bravo Meles!!!!
[Reply]
July 30th, 2008 at 5:41 AM