A/HRC/7/3/Add.1 page 97 Para Country Date Type Mandate Allegations transmitted Government response Ahmed Yassin, a citizen of Sweden, and Ms. Sophia Abdi Nasir, also a citizen of Sweden, and her children (names and age unknown), Ms. Ines Chine, a citizen of Tunisia, Abdi Muhammed Abdillahi, a citizen of Kenya, and more than seventy others. In December 2006, the conflict between the militias of the Council of Somali Islamic Courts and the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, supported by armed forces of Ethiopia, caused a large flow of refugees seeking to cross the border from Somalia into Kenya. On 2 January 2007, Kenyan authorities announced the closure of the border for security reasons. Since then, it is reported that the Kenyan security forces have been patrolling the border and have arrested a number of those seeking to cross it. Kenya has deported at least 84 of those arrested back to Somalia, from where they were taken to Ethiopia. In late March, the Ethiopian Government released five persons arrested and detained under these circumstances. On 10 April 2007, the Government announced that 29 more of the transferred detainees would be released, however, so far none of the 29 persons have been freed. The persons named above were arrested between 30 December 2006 and February 2007 as they tried to cross the border from Somalia into Kenya. They were detained in various locations in Nairobi before being transferred to Somalia on three charter flights between 20 January and 10 February 2007. Once in Somalia they were transferred to Ethiopia. They were not provided with an opportunity to challenge their forcible The rest have been released because of their marginal roles. These individuals were among the international terrorists who answered the call for Jihad by the Al-Shabab group of extremists against the Governments of Somalia and Ethiopia. The Government of Somalia, due to the lack of adequate and secure facilities or functional prisons, requested that the Government of Ethiopia hold these individuals and undertake investigations into their activities. However, the allegation that there are more than seventy others in addition to those named in the communication is false, as are the allegations that the detainees are held incommunicado, and that they might be at risk of torture. With the exception of three individuals, who refused to exercise their right, embassy or consular officials from their respective countries have visited the detainees. Their embassies or consular officials have been cooperating with the competent Ethiopian agencies in arranging the return of their nationals. It is also not true that they were not afforded the opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention. All detainees have appeared before the competent Court in accordance with the relevant national legal procedures consistent with international obligations of the country. Although security experts from the respective countries of origin of the detainees have been involved in questioning some of the suspects, this was done in the presence of Ethiopian personnel in order to ensure that no detainee was subjected to torture, inhumane or degrading treatment. The physical