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.