Ethiopia: An updated list of persons who are wanted by the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO) in Addis Ababa
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 March 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ETH28677.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ethiopia: An updated list of persons who are wanted by the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO) in Addis Ababa, 1 March 1998, ETH28677.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab3d44.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The attached translated list, containing 267 names and dated 23 December 1996, was provided to the Research Directorate by the War Crimes Unit of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). It had been sent by fax to the War Crimes Unit by the Canadian Embassy in Addis Ababa in January 1998.
The Research Directorate was told on 25 February 1998 by a representative of the Trial Observation Information Project (TOIP) in Addis Ababa, contacted by telephone, that the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO) had charged 5,198 people, of whom 2,246 were in detention. TOIP had obtained these figures from official press releases. TOIP is a non-governmental organization which selectively observes trials prosecuted by the SPO. Most of TOIP's trial observers are senior law students from Addis Ababa University. The representative told the Research Directorate that TOIP is not in possession of the complete list of people charged by the SPO.
On 18 March 1998 the Research Directorate received a letter from the Refugee Branch Asylum Division (RBAD) of CIC indicating that the Ethiopian Special Prosecutor had recently told a representative of CIC in a personal interview that a comprehensive list of those charged by the SPO would be made public by the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs only after the list was distributed to all foreign embassies in Addis Ababa, along with supplementary lists of persons thought to be in the respective countries of the embassies.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Refugee Branch Asylum Division. 18 March 1998. Letter to the Research Directorate.
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 23 December 1996. "The Special Prosecutor Criminal File No. 13/85." [Translated for the Canadian Embassy in Addis Ababa]
Trial Observation Information Project (TOIP), Addis Ababa. 25 February 1998. Telephone interview with a representative.
Attachment
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 23 December 1996. "The Special Prosecutor Criminal File No. 13/85." [Translated for the Canadian Embassy in Addis Ababa] 27 pages.