From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Fri Apr 03 2009 - 14:49:56 EST
Lawsuit challenges aid to Ethiopia
Imprisoned Canadian's lawyer accuses Ottawa of giving relief to state
that doesn't respect rights
Apr 03, 2009 04:30 AM
Michelle Shephard
National Security Reporter
There have been Supreme Court cases, costly federal inquiries, rallies
and media pressure that has forced the government into action concerning
Canadian citizens detained abroad.
But now comes an inventive court challenge that lawyers for Bashir
Makhtal hope will pack a financial punch and lead to the Canadian's
release from Ethiopia.
A lawsuit against the Canadian government filed yesterday in federal
court argues that Canada is breaking the law by providing financial aid
to Ethiopia.
"Official government development aid shall only be provided to countries
if the aid `is consistent with international human rights standards,'"
the claim alleges, quoting from a new law that came into effect in June.
The Official Development Assistance Accountability Act was passed in
order to ensure that development assistance is provided "in a manner
that is consistent with Canadian values (and) Canadian foreign policy."
Toronto lawyer Lorne Waldman argues in his suit that Makhtal, who is
being held in an Addis Ababa prison, has been denied access to lawyers
or consular assistance for two years, and coupled with international
criticism about Ethiopia's courts, continued aid would violate Canadian
law.
The suit focuses on the portion of Canada's $89 million in foreign aid
targeted for improving Ethiopia's legal system.
"We don't have any issue of the government sending aid to people who are
starving or building wells or all the other things they may be doing in
Ethiopia," Waldman said.
"But giving aid to a government that doesn't respect due process to
finance their legal system is in my view inconsistent with our
obligations."
Makhtal, an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen who lived in Toronto for
close to a decade before moving to Kenya where he worked and lived with
his wife, was arrested in December 2006 at the border of Somalia. He was
initially held in Nairobi but then taken secretly to Somalia and driven
to Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian government alleges Makhtal is a member of the outlawed
Ogaden National Liberation Front, which is fighting for the
Somali-speaking population of Ethiopia's disputed, oil-rich Ogaden
region.
He has denied the charge.
While the government had not spoken out publicly against Makhtal's case
when he was initially detained, Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Secretary
Deepak Obhrai went to Addis Ababa twice last year to meet Ethiopian
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Federal Transport Minister John Baird, whose Ottawa riding has a large
Somali population, recently took a personal interest in the case and
vowed to visit Ethiopia soon.
"I am very cautious about this step by the lawyers," Baird said
yesterday in reaction to the lawsuit.
"I am just not optimistic that an attempt to pressure the Ethiopians in
Canadian courts will benefit Bashir. His case is taking place in
Ethiopia, and that needs to be where we focus our efforts."
Makhtal appeared in an Ethiopian court yesterday where six witnesses
gave "mainly hearsay testimony," his cousin, Said Makhtal, said. He is
to appear again April 20.
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/612961
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