For the past month, Djiboutian authorities have been rounding up and detaining hundreds of Ethiopian asylum seekers and refugees with the aim of deporting them back to Ethiopia. They are at risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment upon their return to Ethiopia.

Jean-Paul Noel Abdi, the president of the Djiboutian League of Human Rights (la Ligue djiboutienne des droits humains, LDDH), was granted provisional liberty on 21 February 2011 on health grounds. He remains charged with participation in an insurrectional movement after he investigated and reported...

On 9 February, Jean-Paul Noёl Abdi, the president of the Djiboutian League of Human Rights (la Ligue djiboutienne des droits humains, LDDH), was arrested after he investigated and reported on arrests following recent student protests in the Republic of Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa.

Captain Behailu Gebre and Abiyot Mangudai were reportedly forcibly returned from Djibouti to Ethiopia around 11 July. They are reportedly detained incommunicado at Debre Zeit airforce base, southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa and have allegedly been tortured since their return to Ethiopia.

Two Ethiopian air force helicopter pilots, Captain Behailu Gebre and Abiyot Mangudai, flew a military helicopter to the neighbouring state of Djibouti on 9 or 10 June. They reportedly sought asylum and were reportedly held incommunicado detention without being charged. The Djibouti authorities have...

Ali Meidal Wais, Daher Ahmed Farah and Moussa Ahmed Idriss received a presidential pardon and were released on 7 December.

Amnesty International believes that former prisoner of conscience Aref Mohamed Aref, a prominent defender of human rights, is at risk of being imminently arrested for his peaceful criticisms of the government.

On 20 October 1999 a court of appeal upheld the convictions of Ali Meidal Wais and Daher Ahmed Farah for ‘spreading false news’ and sentenced both men to six months’ imprisonment. A third journalist, Moussa Ahmed Idriss, remains in prison having been found guilty of violently resisting arrest after...

On 6 October 1999, Moussa Ahmed Idriss was found guilty of a new charge of violently resisting arrest. Nineteen of his relatives and supporters were found guilty of the same charge and also imprisoned. Amnesty International is concerned that they did not receive a fair trial. An appeal date of 20...

Amnesty International is very concerned by a recent government crackdown on the last two remaining opposition newspapers circulating in Djibouti. Moussa Ahmed Idriss, Ali Meidal Wais and Daher Ahmed Farah, three journalists, were arrested and charged with diffusion de fausses nouvelles, “spreading...

Ibrahim Mohamed Osman, a recognized Ethiopian refugee who has applied for resettlement in Canada, has been detained without charge since 7 May 1999, when he was arrested in Djibouti city. Amnesty International believes he is in danger of refoulement to Ethiopia, where he would be at risk of...

Aref Mohamed Aref, a human rights defender who was barred from travelling to the Paris Human Rights Defenders Summit in December 1998, has been summoned to appear in court in Djibouti on 15 February 1999 on charges of fraud. AI believes the charges to be politically motivated.