Ethiopian Government Shows Terror Detainees On State-Run Television

Photo released by Ethiopian government owned news agency, ENA

NAIROBI, Kenya, April 11, 2007 – Ethiopia, facing criticism over its detention of foreign terror suspects, paraded eight detainees on state-run television, with one prisoner saying the captors were "like our friends" and were treating them well.

The Ethiopian News Agency's broadcast late Tuesday came hours after the government confirmed an Associated Press report that Ethiopia detained dozens of foreign suspects as part of an effort to stem terrorism. Human rights groups say the detentions violate international law, which Ethiopia denies.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, the guardian of the Geneva Conventions that protect victims of war, has tried unsuccessfully to meet with the detainees.

"We have requested to have access, but we still don't have it," ICRC spokesman Patrick Megevand said Wednesday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

In Tuesday's ENA report, eight detainees said they had been treated humanely and that their basic needs were met.

"I do appreciate everything," said Muhibitabo Clement Ibrahim, a Rwandan. "The treatment here is very good. Ethiopians are very sociable and they respect human rights."

Munir Awad, a Swedish citizen of Lebanese descent, said: "They treat us very well, they are like our friends."

Syrian detainee Osama Abdulaziz Al Nasib "thanked the Ethiopian government for the good treatment, shelter, clothing, food and medical treatment since he was transferred to the Ethiopian forces after he was apprehended in Somalia-Kenyan border," the report said.

The news agency also provided a photo of the men, including 24-year-old American Amir Mohammed Meshal, smiling with their arms around each other. They were not in prison uniforms. The location and date of the photo were not given.

The ICRC said showing prisoners of war on television or otherwise exposing them to public curiosity violates the Geneva Conventions. There has been no official determination about whether the detainees are POWs. Some were swept up by Ethiopian troops that drove a radical Islamist government out of neighboring Somalia late last year. Others have been deported from Kenya, where many Somalis have fled the continuing violence in their homeland.

Ethiopia , which initially denied holding the prisoners, has a long history of human rights abuses. In recent years, it has also been a key U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida, which has been trying to sink roots in the Horn of Africa.

On Tuesday, Ethiopia said foreign interrogators were allowed to question the suspects with Ethiopian supervision.

"All the suspected terrorists, who said that they were allowed to appear before the court, thanked the Ethiopian government and concerned bodies for their good treatment," the state-run news agency said.

The Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry said 29 of the 41 suspects have been ordered released by the Ethiopian government, and that five already have been freed. The ministry said only 12 foreign detainees would remain in custody after the next round of releases.

It was not clear from Tuesday's report if the eight men interviewed would remain in custody or be freed.

Source: The Associated Press