Honorable Navanethem Pillay
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland

cc: Honorable Patrick Leahy, Senator, United States Senate
Honorable Zoe Lofgren, Representative, United States Congress
November 20, 2010

Dear High Commissioner Pillay,

The Ethiopian American Council strongly condemns the illegal action of the Bashir government of North Sudan in delivering Andualem Ayalew Gellaw to the Meles Zenawi regime of Ethiopia, in egregious contravention of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention against refoulement, as well as against the 1974 Sudanese Asylum Act.

Ms. Pillay, as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) – "Voice of the Victim Everywhere” – we plead that you, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (OHCR), immediately convene an investigation into this deplorable act of the Bashir government of Sudan, as it has resulted in the persecution and torture of Andualem Ayalew, for which that government bears practically direct responsibility.

On November 10, 2011, Andualem was one of twenty-four people charged with "terrorism” offenses by the regime of Meles Zenawi. According to reliable prison sources, he has been subjected to gross and systematic violation of his human rights, including severe beatings and torture, while in the custody of the Ethiopian security forces.

Andualem Ayalew Gellaw was first elected to the Ethiopian Parliament in 2005 as a member of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUD). In the 2010 election he was running as a candidate for the Unity, Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) when he was accused of inciting the public with his campaign speeches.

He was forced to flee to neighboring Sudan to avoid political imprisonment. He left behind his pregnant wife and 8-year-old daughter. He was given refugee status by the Office of the High Commission for Refugees and was awaiting relocation to a third country when he was arrested by the Sudanese government and delivered to the Ethiopian security forces.

Making this case even more odious, the North Sudanese government illegally transferred a political refugee into the hands of the Ethiopian security forces – knowing full well his certain fate. The security forces of the Meles regime are the main tool for suppression of the human rights of the Ethiopian people.

The Ethiopian American Council also pleads that the OHCHR and the OHCR condemn the illegal action of the Sudanese government in the strongest terms possible. We also plead that you call on the regime of Meles Zenawi to stop torturing state prisoners and to release all political prisoners in Ethiopia immediately.

Ms. Pillay, as High Commissioner, we should also inform you that this is not an isolated incident. In other countries neighboring Ethiopia, specifically Kenya and Djibouti, the security agents of the Meles regime are allowed to operate at will to abduct, and in some cases assassinate, Ethiopian refugees.

Many kidnapping cases include Major Atanaw Wassie, who was a founding leader of the Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU) in the 1970′s. Taken from exile in the Sudan, Sudanese authorities forcefully delivered Major Atanaw into the hands of the regime of Meles. He was disappeared for a year and then emerged in the regime’s notorious Kaliti Prison. In his seventies, he died in 2009 due to lack of medical care while incarcerated.

Other members of the EDU and EPRP have also been kidnapped and deported continuously from Sudan since 1992. Some have even been murdered. These political refugees include Getachew Yirga, Abeje Feleke, Fente Argaw, Meketaw Azanaw, Asrade Beyene and Sbagadis Dori (he was murdered, according to reliable sources).

Under great emotional distress, relatives and friends of these Ethiopian political refugees continue to plead for an account of their fate, but the regime of Meles and the TPLF refuse to deny or admit committing any crimes.

These acts, along with the aforementioned case of Andualem Ayalew Gelaw, all constitute a mockery of the principle of asylum and refugee refoulement as they have been clearly defined by international law. Therefore we, the Ethiopian American Council and members of the Ethiopian Diaspora world-wide, plead for your most noble attention and swift forthright action regarding these flagrant and heinous crimes.

Most sincerely,

Ethiopian American Council
The Ethiopian Americans Council (EAC) is a grassroots policy advocacy organization.