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Posted 14th May 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact information
Said Maktal
maktals@hotmail.com
Edmonton, AB (May 11,
2009)
Free Makhtal-Working
Coalition, a coalition of citizens and residents of Canada, held a town
hall meeting on Sunday, May 10, 2009 to raise awareness about the plight
of Bashir Makhtal. Mr. Makhtal, a Canadian Citizen has been held in an
Ethiopian military prison for over two years. Much of that time, he has
not hadaccess to legal representation nor where the charges against him
ever been placed in front of a judge until early 2009, as a result of
consist pressure the Makhtal family and the Free-Makhtal Working
Coalition. It is important to note that under the guise of the war on
terror, Mr. Bashir Makhtal of Toronto, was illegally detained by the
Kenyan Government in 2006 and without any court proceeding, was
transferred to a military prison in Ethiopia. This type of secret and
extraordinary rendition where any country can imprison anyone at anytime
without any legal protection is against the laws and conventions of the
international community. The Canadian people and government must come to
the aid of their fellow Canadian.
Present at the town hall meeting were dignitaries such as the Honorable
Laurie Hawn, Professor Hussein Warsame, Ms. Fowsia Abdulkadir,
Chairperson of the Free-Makhtal Working Coalition of Ottawa, Mr. Obang
Metho of the Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia, and Mr. Said Makhtal
family member and representatives of Somali communities of Calgary,
Edmonton and Fort McMurray, who collectively spoke of the need for the
Canadian government to act. All the participants of this Town Hall
meeting showed that they stood in solidarity with the Free Makhtal-Coalition,
shed light on Mr. Makhtal’s condition and covered what can and must be
done.
Free Makhtal-Working Coalition, wishes to also commend the participants
and offer our sincere thanks to the Honorable Minister of Transport,
John Baird, for his thoughtful open-letter and his continued leadership
on behalf of Mr. Makhtal. We look forward to future cooperation with him
and his office.
All of our elected officials deserve special thanks for bringing a level
of hope to the community that showed that Canadian leaders are paying
close attention to this case.
It is with resounding unanimity that the attendees, participants and
organizers hereby resolve:
That Wednesday May20, 2009 become the designated Action Day for Free-Makhtal,
a day to mobilize all concerned Canadians to call, e-mail and/or write
to their Members of Parliament to bring Bashir Makhtal home.
To mobilize all concerned Canadians to lobby the Canadian Parliament to
leverage aid to Ethiopia to meet acceptable human rights standards for
the Ogaden region, the Gambella region and for all Ethiopians.
To work towards strong constituencies that advocates, and reach out to
mainstream Canadian communities for justice for all Canadians.
For questions or press information, please contact Yassin Kassim at
(780) 914-2226 and
jawaabo@yahoo.com. |
