United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Document - Sessional/Annual Report of Committee - "the kebele" without any explanation. It would appear that "kebele" stands for "local representative". officers in Ethiopia in 1988 after having begun to give lessons in the local mosque in November of that year. He was accused of "anti-revolutionary" activities and held in detention for an unspecified period of time. 2.2 At the beginning of 1989, he was nominated by his peers from school to participate in a political course of one month in Addis Ababa. The nomination was approved by the local administrative officers. After having completed the course, the author was informed that he was to be sent to a remote area in the country for the purpose of recruiting farmers as soldiers for the Government forces. The area in question was populated by a majority of people of Oromo ethnic origin and was said to be a centre for activities of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). 2.3 The author, as well as other participants in the political course who had been selected for the mission which was aimed at breaking OLF influence in the area, considered the task impossible and protested. However, they were sent to the region under threat of execution. Fighting broke out on their arrival and the local inhabitants threw stones at them. Local OLF activists threatened them with death and urged them to leave the area within 48 hours. The author decided to leave the area without further delay and returned to his home town. He was reported missing by representatives of the Government. In Dire Dawa he was arrested, on an unspecified date, by the local administrative officers, and held in detention for an unspecified period of time, accused of being an OLF collaborator. He states that he was subjected to torture during the detention. 2.4 In support of these claims, the author refers to an enclosed document issued by the Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims in Athens on 20 November 1994. According to the report, the author was examined by a neurologist and an orthopedist, as well as interviewed by a psychologist, during six sessions in October 1994. The report states that he had been subjected to various forms of torture and subsequently suffered from severe headaches, as well as from pains in the right knee and right foot. Reference is also made to a translation of a report from a hospital in Athens, dated 1 February 1995, concerning an electroencephalogram. 2.5 As a consequence of the ill-treatment, the author was taken ill. He had a high temperature and vomited repeatedly. He was therefore transferred to a hospital in Dire Dawa. While he was hospitalized there was an exchange of fire in the town between Government soldiers and OLF activists and the power was cut off. He managed to escape from the hospital during the confusion that followed. In this context, he contends that "a security guard shot my father dead". As Government representatives intensified the search for him, he decided that he had to flee the country. 2.6 The author contends that he crossed the border to Somalia in December 1989 and was held in detention there from 1 January 1990 for five months, accused of illegal entry. Following his release in Somalia, he states that he was told by "the United Nations office to register with the police". However, the police would not let him register as a refugee "because of the political situation and [his] being a member of the Aderic Tribe". The author contends that, with the help of a friend in Somalia who provided him with a passport and air fare, he managed to leave Somalia for Turkey, on an unspecified date. He states that he was informed by the police in Turkey that Africans were not allowed to register as http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/de75e94f920bd0a0802565a600537744?Opendocument (98 of 109)16/10/2006 9:54:12 AM