CONTINUED DETENTION OF ANDARGACHEW TSEGE

Early day motion 599, tabled 3 December 2014 by Jeremy Corbyn (Labour). Signed by 33 members.

That this House remains extremely concerned about the case of British citizen and Ethiopian political opposition activist Andargachew Tsege, abducted on 23 June 2014 while in transit in Sana'a airport, Yemen, on his way to Eritrea and extradited to Ethiopia; is very disappointed that after more than five months in detention, his whereabouts are still unknown and meaningful consular access has not been facilitated by the Ethiopian government; notes that over the past decade Human Rights Watch and other domestic and international human rights organisations have documented patterns of serious human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest and detention, ill-treatment and torture in many official and unofficial detention facilities throughout Ethiopia; is dismayed that the Ethiopian government has not provided an unequivocal guarantee that it will not carry out the death penalty imposed in previous in absentia proceedings; calls on the Government to do more to ensure that it obtains regular consular access and that Mr Tsege receives a fair trial; and further calls on the Government to review its aid programme to Ethiopia, including any funding given to the security sector, as a matter of urgency.

Signatures by party: Labour 21, Liberal Democrat 4, Independent 2, Alliance 1, Conservative 1, DUP 1, Green 1, Scottish National Party 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.