Geneva, January 28, 2013

Mr. Sulub Ahmed and Mr. Ali Hussein were abducted from Nairobi, Kenya on 26 January 2014. The two men are members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). Mr. Sulub participated in the second round of talks between the Ethiopian Government and ONLF last year [2013] and both were in Nairobi for the third round of talks, which are expected to begin shortly.

The Somali Regional Administration website, cakaaranews.com, confirmed the kidnapping of the two men, adding that they were crossing the border between Ethiopia and Kenya.

Refugees and ONLF members from Ogaden are routinely abducted and killed in Kenya, where large numbers of refugees are seeking refuge. Two years ago, on 21 June 2011, an Ethiopian Government secret service agent presumably assassinated Mr. Abd Abdullahi, an ONLF senior leader, in Nairobi. Similar killings have occurred in Dadaab refugees camps.

Such unlawful actions could endanger the ongoing efforts of the Kenya Government in mediating talks between Ethiopia and ONLF in their search for a lasting peace solution to the Ogaden conflict. 

We call on the Ethiopian Government to immediately and unconditionally release the abducted and to abstain from any  similar future actions. We also call upon the Kenyan Government to guarantee the security of the refugees on Kenyan soil.

For more information, contact us at: [email protected]