Djibouti: Immediately release Omar Ewado
Version française ci-dessous
DefendDefenders (the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project) condemns the arrest and detention of Omar Ewado, Director of theLigue Djiboutienne des droits de l'homme(LDDH), and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
For more information, please contact
Hassan Shire
Djiboutian national intelligence agents arrestedMr.Ewadoon 19 March around6pmat his home. Dressed in plain clothing and heavily armed, they threatened his family and took him away in a minibus to an unknown location.
"Djibouti remains one of the most difficult countries in the East and Horn of Africa sub-region for human rights defenders to do their work,” said Hassan Shire, Executive Director of DefendDefenders. "Given the authorities’
trackrecordofilltreatmentandtortureof detainees, we are extremely concerned about OmarEwado’sarrest and incommunicado detention, and call for his immediate and unconditional release.”
The reason forMr.Ewado’sarrest is unknown, although he has in the past been detained for conducting his human rights work. In January 2016Mr.Ewadowasarrestedandsentenced to three months in prison after being found guilty of public defamation by Djibouti’s Criminal Court. His arrest came after LDDH issued public statements condemning the security forces’ killing of up to 27 people during a public gathering on 21 December 2015.Mr.Ewado’ssentencewasoverturnedon14 February 2016 by the Appeals Court of Djibouti
Civic space in Djibouti isheavilyrestrictedandLDDH is the only
independenthumanrightsorganisationstilloperatingin the country.
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Hassan Shire
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Clementine de Montjoye
Advocacy & Research Officer, East & Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
on advocacy@defenddefenders.org or +256 779 673 378
(English and French)
Advocacy & Research Officer, East & Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
on advocacy@defenddefenders.org or +256 779 673 378
(English and French)
East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
DefendDefenders seeks to strengthen the work of human rights defenders throughout the region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights.
DefendDefenders focuses its work on Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia (together with Somaliland),
South
Sudan,Sudan,TanzaniaandUganda. Visit
us
at
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DefendDefenders focuses its work on Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia (together with Somaliland),
Djibouti: Immediately release Omar Ewado
Version française ci-dessous DefendDefenders (the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project) condemns the arrest and detention of Omar Ewado, Director of theLigue Djiboutienne des droits de l'homme(LDDH), and calls for his i