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Bashir Makhtal back in Canada after being imprisoned in Ethiopia for 11 years
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Sunday April 22, 2018 - 16:43:15 in Latest News by Burhan Salad
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A Toronto man is celebrating his release from an Ethiopian prison where he languished since his extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Ethiopia in 2006. Canadian Bashir Makhtal, 49, was released by Ethiopian authorities after 11 years of lobbying by the Canadian government and his family for his release. He arrived in Canada on a flight from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, on Saturday greeted by family, friends and well-wishers at the airport.
Makhtal was arrested in on December 30, 2006, after fleeing Mogadishu and the fall of the Islamic Courts Union. He was secretly questioned in Nairobi and then placed on a flight to Ethiopia in shackles and without any formal extradition proceedings. He was accused of being a ringleader of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and charged with multiple counts of terrorism. Ethiopian authorities did not acknowledge that they had arrested Makhtal until July 2007, six months after his rendition from Kenya.
Makhtal was arrested in on December 30, 2006, after fleeing Mogadishu and the fall of the Islamic Courts Union. He was secretly questioned in Nairobi and then placed on a flight to Ethiopia in shackles and without any formal extradition proceedings. He was accused of being a ringleader of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and charged with multiple counts of terrorism. Ethiopian authorities did not acknowledge that they had arrested Makhtal until July 2007, six months after his rendition from Kenya.
His 2009 trial was quickly condemned by human rights groups as a travesty of justice. Makhtal was denied a fair trial and subjected to torture by his interrogators. He was quickly convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Ethiopia classifies the ONLF as a "terrorist" organization. The United States, United Kingdom, the European Union and Canada - of which Makthal is a citizen, do not.
"Once charges were laid against Makhtal we pressed for him to be provided with a fair trial and an opportunity to mount an effective defence, such as by having full access to allegations, evidence and witnesses against him," Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International in Canada, told Al Jazeera.
"That was not the case, nor was his appeal hearing a fair process," Neve said.
Bashir Makthal's version of events was that he was in Somalia doing business in 2006 when the Ethiopian military invaded Somalia to oust the Islamic Court Union. Makthal - and thousands of other internally displaced people - fled to the Kenyan border for safety.
Bashir Mukhtal (L) arrives in Canada on April 21, 2018. He spent the previous 11 years in an Ethiopian prison. PHOTO: Supplied
After arriving in Canada in 1991, Makhtal had returned to Africa in 2002 to run a used clothing business out of Djibouti.
In a hand-written note obtained by the Toronto Star in 2011, Makhtal said that he was arrested "because of my grandfather’s role in Ethiopian politics.” Makhtal’s grandfather, Makhtal Dahir, was one of the founding members of the ONLF.
Makhtal's relatives say that his oldest brother, Hassan Ahmed Makhtal, was also imprisoned and tortured in Ethiopia. His family says the elder Makhtal died in 2009 as a result of his injuries sustained in an Ethiopian jail.
Despite years of lobbying by Makthal's family and the Canadian government - including a visit from then Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird - , Ethiopia denied Makhtal a prison transfer. His family wavered in their hope that Bashir would ever be free.
However, earlier this year, his family received a glimmer of hope. After three years of mass protests in the country's Oromia and Amhara regions, the Ethiopian government released thousands of political prisoners, including a journalists and a senior opposition leader.
In February, the Ethiopian government began negotiating with the ONLF. Officials from the ONLF and the Ethiopian government met at a secret location in Nairobi for the first time since previous talks in 2012 and 2013 fizzled out without either group making any concessions.
Makhtal's wife, Asiso Abdi, told Al Jazeera that Ethiopian authorities could be persuaded to include Bashir among those freed
"If the government of Justin Trudeau is willing to get Bashir home, there will never be a better time than now," Abdi said. "When there is a life, there is a hope."
Ethiopia classifies the ONLF as a "terrorist" organization. The United States, United Kingdom, the European Union and Canada - of which Makthal is a citizen, do not.
"Once charges were laid against Makhtal we pressed for him to be provided with a fair trial and an opportunity to mount an effective defence, such as by having full access to allegations, evidence and witnesses against him," Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International in Canada, told Al Jazeera.
"That was not the case, nor was his appeal hearing a fair process," Neve said.
Bashir Makthal's version of events was that he was in Somalia doing business in 2006 when the Ethiopian military invaded Somalia to oust the Islamic Court Union. Makthal - and thousands of other internally displaced people - fled to the Kenyan border for safety.
Bashir Mukhtal (L) arrives in Canada on April 21, 2018. He spent the previous 11 years in an Ethiopian prison. PHOTO: Supplied
After arriving in Canada in 1991, Makhtal had returned to Africa in 2002 to run a used clothing business out of Djibouti.
In a hand-written note obtained by the Toronto Star in 2011, Makhtal said that he was arrested "because of my grandfather’s role in Ethiopian politics.” Makhtal’s grandfather, Makhtal Dahir, was one of the founding members of the ONLF.
Makhtal's relatives say that his oldest brother, Hassan Ahmed Makhtal, was also imprisoned and tortured in Ethiopia. His family says the elder Makhtal died in 2009 as a result of his injuries sustained in an Ethiopian jail.
Despite years of lobbying by Makthal's family and the Canadian government - including a visit from then Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird - , Ethiopia denied Makhtal a prison transfer. His family wavered in their hope that Bashir would ever be free.
However, earlier this year, his family received a glimmer of hope. After three years of mass protests in the country's Oromia and Amhara regions, the Ethiopian government released thousands of political prisoners, including a journalists and a senior opposition leader.
In February, the Ethiopian government began negotiating with the ONLF. Officials from the ONLF and the Ethiopian government met at a secret location in Nairobi for the first time since previous talks in 2012 and 2013 fizzled out without either group making any concessions.
Makhtal's wife, Asiso Abdi, told Al Jazeera that Ethiopian authorities could be persuaded to include Bashir among those freed
"If the government of Justin Trudeau is willing to get Bashir home, there will never be a better time than now," Abdi said. "When there is a life, there is a hope."
Bashir is expected to return to Toronto where he lived prior to his ordeal.
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Bashir Makhtal back in Canada after being imprisoned in Ethiopia for 11 years
A Toronto man is celebrating his release from an Ethiopian prison where he languished since his extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Ethiopia in 2006.