ESAT News (December 21, 2016)

Andargachew Tsege

British MPs from all political parties have criticised their government for not seeking the release of Britons detained unjustly abroad, including British father of three Andargachew Tsege in Ethiopia, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran.

In a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood was accused of “hiding behind” a claim of needing to respect families’ confidentiality, in order to avoid explaining why the UK had not sought the release of Britons such as Mr Tsege.

MPs also criticised the FCO for declining to intervene strongly for detained Britons for fear of ‘interfering’ with foreign judicial systems, in such repressive countries like Ethiopia and Iran, according to a press release by, Reprieve an international human rights organization.

Mr. Tsege was kidnapped at an airport in Sanaa, Yemen,  2014 and was surrendered illegally to the repressive regime. He was held incommunicado for a year before being transferred to a prison that has been referred to as ‘Ethiopia’s gulag’.

Mr Tsege has been sentenced to death in absentia on charges that relate to his political opposition to the Ethiopian government. MPs on Tuesday pointed out that the 2009 proceedings against Mr Tsege were described by US diplomats at the time as “lacking basic elements of due process.”

Sponsoring today’s debate, Tom Brake MP said the Government must seek Mr Tsege’s release to show “that the UK does not stand by and let their citizens face appalling treatment.” Senior Conservative MP Fiona Bruce said that the UK must not “tolerate without challenge” instances where governments abuse Britons such as Mr Tsege. Several MPs pointed out that Ethiopia receives substantial amounts of UK assistance, including for Ethiopia’s security forces.

Mr Ellwood claimed, in response, that the Foreign Office had secured a commitment “at the highest levels of the Ethiopian government” that Mr Tsege would be given a legal process. However, it emerged that the Ethiopian government has told MPs, as recently as yesterday, that Mr Tsege has no prospect of an appeal.

Reprieve said the debate comes amid concern over a ‘downgrading’ of human rights at the Foreign Office. The families of several Britons killed or imprisoned abroad told the Times, in an article published on Tuesday, that they felt trying to secure help from the FCO was like “screaming into a vacuum.”

Mr Tsege’s partner and children in London have not spoken to him since December 2014, when they received a brief phone call from him. UK embassy staff have had extremely limited consular access to Mr Tsege since 2014, and has never been allowed to meet him without the presence of Ethiopian officials. Independent experts have raised fears that he has been tortured.

“It’s truly alarming that the Government is still refusing to seek Andy Tsege’s release, two and a half years into his illegal detention. As MPs from all parties pointed out, Andy is the victim of a series of crimes – the only proper response to these appalling abuses is to seek his return to the UK.

The Government must listen to these calls, and urgently request Andy’s return home, so that his kids don’t have to face another Christmas without him,” said Maya Foa, a director at Reprieve, which is assisting Mr Tsege’s family.