May 5, 2000

 MORE THAN 30 MINORS (18 0F THEM ETHIOPIANS) IN DJIBOUTI'S GABODE PRISON

 More than 30 minors, of whom 18 are Ethiopians, are languishing in Djibouti's notorious Gabode prison where condition of incarceration is worse than deplorable. Some reports allege that the minors, some of whom are as young as six years old, have been sexually abused by the guards and by some of the adult prisoners with whom they are being locked up. The Djibouti government has refused to release the minors or to move them to another detention center for minors. It alleges that the minors are thieves or Ethiopians who have entered Djibouti illegally. The EPRDF embassy in Djibouti has collided with the government and refused to take up the case of the Ethiopian minors. SOCEPP has the following list of the jailed minors:

1. Abdi Ahmed Jibril (15 years old)2. Abdi Djamal Abdimazak (13) 3. Adisu Abayne Hajase (13) 4. Ahmed Abdella Bedaso (12) 5. Abdulfetah Ziad Ahmed (12) 6. Abdulkadir Yusuf Ali (12) 7. Abdulaziz Omar (10) 8. Ahmed Mohamed Abdi (15) 9. Ahmed Mohamed Khalif (15) 10. Ahmed Mohamed Ismael (12) 11. Ahmed Nur Abdi (15) 12. Bayen Houssein Hadi (12) 13. Shemsedi Hussein Saaf (15) 14. Faisal Ibrahim Aden (15) 15. Terefe Gojane Tesfaye (10) 16. Hassan Bedri Yusuf (10) 17. Kedir Mohamed Ahmed (15) 18. Mohamed Abdella Said (15) 19. Mohamed Ahmed Moualin (13) 20. Mohamed Daeb Aden (15) 21, Mohamed Siraj Ahmed (10) 22. Mussa Mohamed Wadey (15) 23. Nasser Hussein Abdi (10) 24. Njanka Libah Khalif (15) 25. Sagaal Gama Tahmraad (13) 26. Salahadin Djama Ali (11) Write to the Government of Djibouti (President Omar Gulleh, p.o.box 6, Djibouti) or to its nearest consulate/embassy protesting against the inhuman detention of the minors and calling for their immediate release.

SOCEPP