ETHIOPIAN AUTHORITIES FORCEFULLY ARREST AND DEPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 001682 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2019 TAGS: CASC PGOV PHUM KDEM PREL ET SUBJECT: ETHIOPIAN AUTHORITIES FORCEFULLY ARREST AND DEPORT 14 AMERICAN STUDENTS REF: ADDIS 1587 Classified By: Ambassador Donald Yamamoto. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On July 9, 14 American college students, a British program director, and an American researcher were forcefully removed from their host families' homes and detained by federal police in East Hararge zone, Ethiopia. The students came to Ethiopia in mid-June as part of a Learning Enterprises (LE) program to teach English. Throughout a four-day ordeal, the students were arrested, transported to Addis Ababa with an armed police escort, and interrogated at Immigration Headquarters in Addis Ababa. The students heard several different explanations for their arrests throughout the three days, including not being certified teachers, not having the correct visa, being the targets of a terrorist plot, being overqualified to teach English, "overknowledging children," teaching under an unregistered NGO, inciting a revolution, and moving illegally within the country. Police, immigration officials, and the prison administration repeatedly denied students' requests to contact the Embassy. One police officer told researcher Jon Kleiman (strictly protect) that he could not contact the Embassy because "what we (the police) are doing right now is illegal..." ¶2. (C) Ethiopian authorities failed to notify the Embassy of the arrests and denied two of ConOffs' attempts to visit the students. While not a signatory to the Vienna Convention, the U.S. still holds Ethiopia accountable to it. Conoffs were finally able to visit students (while at the airport awaiting deportation) only after the Prime Minister intervened at the request of the Ambassador. The American researcher was jailed and denied requests to contact the Embassy, and was later brought to court without being given access to counsel. The unlawful detention of American citizens brings home the stark reality of unlawful detentions and security forces' unrestricted authority that Ethiopian civil society, journalists, and opposition supporters report to the Embassy on a daily basis. End Summary. Students Forcefully Arrested, Denied Requests to Contact Embassy -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) The 14 American college students, accompanied by British LE Director, arrived in Ethiopia in mid-June. Immediately following orientation, they were taken to their host families in the East Hararge towns of Awwadaaye, Haramaya, Chalenqo, Qobbo, and Deder. Many of the host families had not been informed of the arriving students, and the teaching arrangements had not been pre-arranged by LE Country Coordinator Mahdi Hammid Moudi (Mahdi IBRAHIM on his U.S. passport),who was non-responsive to requests for assistance by the LE Director. (NOTE: Mahdi is a well-known and controversial figure in Ethiopia. An ethnic Oromo who launched a pro-Oromo newspaper several years ago, Mahdi fled the country after receiving reports of his imminent arrest and eventually claimed asylum in the U.S. While in the U.S. he conducted a radio show that was broadcast in Ethiopia, and also published an Oromifa/English dictionary, which made him well-respected in the Oromo community. END NOTE.) After much confusion the students were placed in wealthy Oromo families, and began to teach English at local public high schools. ¶4. (C) Jon Kleiman (strictly protect) , who previously worked for LE elsewhere, came to Ethiopia on his own in early June to research girls' education, and he planned to spend a few months interviewing girls, their families, government officials, and community leaders. After getting permission from all relevant local officials, Jon began his research in Awwadaaya and then proceeded to Chalenqo. A week later he stopped back in Awwadaaye and spent the night with two LE volunteers at their host family's house. At 7:00 the following morning (Thursday, July 9) the three were forcefully arrested by an armed policeman and one casually dressed man, who identified himself as "government," and were taken to the police station. In the next hour, six other LE volunteers residing in nearby towns were forcefully removed from their host families' homes and brought to the police station. Three female volunteers were hysterical when they arrived at the police station claiming that they had been roughly handled by police. One woman reported that a male police officer refused to give her privacy as she changed her ADDIS ABAB 00001682 002 OF 003 clothes. After two hours at the police station, police explained that the students were being held because they did not have the proper paperwork to teach, and that they were at risk of a terrorist plot planned against them. They were loaded into a police vehicle, escorted by a truck with four armed federal police, and told they were being moved to Addis Ababa. Along the way, the convoy stopped to pick up the remaining seven volunteers. The students began asking police for food around noon, but were not given anything to eat until 23:00. Yohannes, the chief policeman, repeatedly refused Jon's requests to contact the Embassy, telling him that "what we're doing right now is illegal, and if the Embassy finds out what we are doing, they will interfere and put you more at risk." The convoy overnighted at a hotel en route to Addis Ababa. Armed police remained outside of the students' hotel rooms. Dubious and Shifting Charges -------------- ¶5. (C) Upon arrival in Addis on Friday, the police brought the students to Immigration Headquarters. Kleiman reported that the head immigration officer appeared to have no idea why the Americans were brought to his office. The immigration officer proceeded to individually interview each of the students, refining his accusations against the students with each interview. They included being overqualified to teach English, "overknowledging children," teaching under an unregistered NGO, and not having the correct visa (though the students report that they were told at the airport that a tourist visa was sufficient). At first, immigration officials told the students they could complete the appropriate paperwork and continue teaching, but later told them they would be immediately deported. After spending the night in a government hotel under guard supervision, on Saturday the students spent six hours sitting in a parked bus in front of the immigration office, and two additional hours waiting in the lobby of the building, while their deportation flights were arranged. Post later learned that immigration authorities booked the students on flights to destinations including Dubai, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Yemen, with apparently no regard to whether the students would be able to book onward flights back to the U.S. At this point, the Ethiopian Government had still not informed the Embassy of the detention of these American citizens. Failure to Notify Embassy -------------- ¶6. (C) ConOff learned of the students' and Kleiman's arrests and detention on Thursday morning when LE Country Coordinator Mahdi Ibrahim came to the Consular Section to report the event. ConOff contacted Ethiopian authorities immediately to seek clarification of students' identities, to arrange a visit, and to confirm whether charges had been filed. ConOff's requests for information were fruitless as no Ethiopian authorities, including Immigration, Federal Police, or Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) admitted to knowing anything about the arrests. It was not until Friday when the Ambassador interceded and contacted the Foreign Minister and the Director and Deputy Director of Ethiopia's National Intelligence Security Service (NISS- which includes the Immigration Department) that Post was able to confirm that the students were arrested and were being detained at Immigration Headquarters in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian authorities initially indicated that visits were possible, but on Friday ConOffs were denied access when they attempted to visit students at Immigration Headquarters. On Saturday the Deputy Director of NISS promised the Ambassador that visits would be allowed. After waiting for three hours outside Immigration Headquarters on Saturday afternoon, three ConOffs, a Consular Investigator, and Mahdi Ibrahim saw one of the students poke her head out of a window of the building and wave. Immigration officials again refused consular access and declined to speak to ConOffs. It was only after the Ambassador contacted the Prime Minister late Saturday that ConOffs, accompanied by the Ambassador and RSO, were able to meet with students, who by then were in the departure lounge of the airport. EmbOffs worked with airline staff to rebook students on direct journeys back to the U.S. Researcher Tricked and Thrown in Jail -------------- ADDIS ABAB 00001682 003 OF 003 ¶7. (C) Just before the students left the Immigration office for the airport, Jon Kleiman was pulled aside by immigration officials and told that he would be able to stay and continue his research. After the students left, Kleiman was picked up by an unmarked vehicle and brought to the Federal Police Investigation Division. His possessions were confiscated (including his research materials) and he was detained in a cell with seven other prisoners from Saturday night to Monday morning. The police chief told him that he was accused of inciting a revolution and moving illegally within the country. He continued to ask to contact the Embassy, but prison authorities refused. On Monday morning, he was taken to court without being given access to counsel. While the proceedings were all in Amharic, a fellow detainee told Kleiman that the judge had granted the police four days to collect evidence, but there was no discussion of potential charges against him. Kleiman was eventually permitted bail and allowed to leave jail, but only after Ambassador had again interceded with the Prime Minister. Before the Prime Minister agreed to allow consular access to Kleiman, Post was unable to confirm whether Kleiman had been arrested. Contacts with Federal Police, Immigration, and MFA all proved fruitless again, as no one professed any knowledge of his whereabouts. Kleiman was released on bail Monday afternoon and escorted from jail by ConOff and RSO. Comment and Action Request -------------- ¶8. (C) LE is culpable for its missteps in hiring a dubious Ethio-American as its agent, not consulting the American Embassy, and placing students in potentially dangerous situations without support. However, the U.S. still holds Ethiopia accountable to abide by the Vienna Convention, though it is not a signatory to it. Ethiopia's failure to notify the U.S. Embassy underscores their willingness to take extrajudicial measures to meet their needs. Ethiopian citizens have long complained to EmbOffs of unlawful arrests and arbitrary detentions by the current government, and voiced their fear that Ethiopia is evolving into a police state. The recent arrests of 15 American citizens under dubious and shifting charges indicate that the Ethiopian Government is growing bolder in its authority to arrest anyone it perceives as a threat. The arrests took place one day after Parliament passed a new Anti-terrorism Law (reftel),sharply criticized by human rights groups for its broad and ambiguous definition of terrorism and severe penalties. ¶9. (C) The aggressive nature of the American students' arrests, combined with the denial of consular access/notification and unclear and ever-changing charges, is just a closer to home example of the Ethiopian Government's persistent violation of human rights. Such blatant disrespect for American citizen's rights adds further credibility to the systematic reports of similar (and more harsh) human rights violations throughout Ethiopia that we hear daily. Embassy Addis Ababa strongly urges the Department to call in the Ethiopian Ambassador to note U.S. concern over the treatment of these American citizens, to condemn these arrests, and to again insist that the Ethiopian Government scrupulously ensure consular notification in every case of the detention or arrest of an American citizen in Ethiopia. We will work with Consular Affairs and Legal Affairs on a diplomatic note of protest. The Ambassador has already forwarded a letter to the Foreign Minister detailing the indiscretions and protesting the treatment of the American students. End Comment. YAMAMOTO