PREP TASK 1
1. Study the materials that are supplied concerning your client,
Sileshi Defar, an asylum seeking from Ethiopia.
(a) Prepare a chronology of the events
1995
There was an election in Ethiopia.
The Oromo people or the OLF have been able to properly participate.
- This was also the case in continuing elections, 200, 2005, 2010, 2015,
2021
2011
The OLF was designated as a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian
government
2014
SD was appointed the MTA’s information organisation [the MTA was a
Oromo self-help organisation that promotes cultural, historical and
political rights of the Oromo people]
By this time SD was also working in the university’s library as an
information technology assistant [and started to secretary assess
information on the internet for the MTA]
There were posted across the Oromia region in April-May of 2014
[concerning the fact that the Ethiopian Government was planning to
expand Addis Adaba which would displace 30 towns and villages in the
Oromia region without paying adequate compensation]
2015 - 2016
The protested [those that also took place in April – May of 2014]
continued from November 2015 into 2016
During numerous protected, security forces fired live ammunition into
the crowd resulting in injuries + deaths of several protestors near SD
[this took place between 2014 – 2017]
2017
An MTA meeting was raided by armed policemen. SD, his father and
brother were arrested, photographed, fingerprinted and interrogated
about their connections with the MTA and OLF.
Given one piece of bread + drink of water each day. No proper toilets.
Repeatedly asked many questions about various anti-government
political groups.
Pushes into a wall, punched, beaten with sticks, tied up and burnt with
cigarettes.
Released by a friend who was a policeman.
Father + brother disappeared.
2018
, SD did his best to keep his father garage business going.
Did not return to the library job as he was too scared that the use of
the internet would be discovered.
Abiy Ahmed because the first Oromo leader to be sworn as new prime
minister.
The Ethiopian government removed the OLF from its list of designated
terrorist organisation.
2019
OLF was recognised as a legally registered political party.
SD joined the local party
2020
Hachalu Hundessa, an Oromo cultural icon has been shot dead.
Protests in the street as a result of the death.
This was broken into violently by the police + SD has to flee for his life.
As the election was coming up there was harassment from the police,
this included disrespecting the OLF flag that was hung up outside the
office, threatening party official [like SD] with being arrested, the police
photographed people entering the office and disrupted political allies.
2021
Oromo Liberation Army [OLA] was re-designated as a terrorist group by
the Ethiopian government in May 2021.
May 2021 their office [OLF] was forcibly closed by the police + 12
members of the party were arrested
Armed police standing outside the building the next day.
Two people officers came to the garage and accused SD of being an
OLD member. They took his passport and identification card and
arrested SD.
The garage business licence was cancelled and goods seized by the
government.
SD escaped through the window while they were searching the
property.
2022
Spent months travelling to get to his only living relative [cousin]
Cousin arranged to hid SD to flee the county + got him a fake passport.
Jan 2022 hid on a truck carrying cattle into Kayne. This followed y
months hidden in various lorries, cars and boats.
Mid July 2022, SD arrived at the port of Dover, England and was taken
to a house where many immigration people were living.
Mid-October, the police + immigration officers raided the house and SD
was arrested for illegally entering the UK.
, 2. Prepare a list of key facts that potentially affect his claim as
described in (a) his statement set out below, (b) the medical
report set out below and (c) the Home Office’s Country Policy
and Information Note Ethiopia: Oromos, the Oromo Liberation
Front and the Oromo Liberation Army (March 2022)
FACTORS THAT SUPPORT HIS CLAIM
The medical report:
The information from the medical report supports the fact the SD was
tortured/subjected to abuse
The medical report is highly consistent with what SD has been alleged
This supports that fact that SD has a well-founded fear of being
persecuted [well-founded fear of persecution, weight is given in the
medical report]
a. Back & neck scars: burnt by police with cigarettes. They cannot be self-
inflicted as he can’t reach.
b. Right eyebrow, nose and upper lip scars: blunt trauma being pushed
against a way
c. Right forearm scar: beaten with sticks
d. Mental health: worries about father + brother, torture experienced in
travelling here, anxious about returning to Ethiopia, worries he will be
killed/tortured, seems to be suffering from PTSD
c. Frequent sleep disturbance, nightmares several times a week with
images of being tortured, nightmares several times of week of being
confined in a small space [usually back of the lorry when he cannot
breath], often waking up sweating from his sleep, frequent recurrent
intrusive distressing recollections, loss of concentration.
These findings corroborate with SD’s account of events.
PLUS, this evidence strongly aligns with para 2.6.2 and 2.6.3 of the
Ethiopia Home Office Guidance which acknowledges that detainees
often face abuse, and that torture is used to extract confessions from
alleged OLF members.
Para 2.4.13 of the Home Office Guidance:
‘a person with a significant history of membership or support for the
OLF or perceived by the authorities to have a significant history of
membership or support is likely to be at risk of persecution or serious
harm.’
SD has been perceived to be in the OLF group as stated in his
statement he was appointed as MTA’s organiser, joined OLF officially
in 2019 and attended meetings and distributed materials, his family
are also involved [brother + father]
1. Study the materials that are supplied concerning your client,
Sileshi Defar, an asylum seeking from Ethiopia.
(a) Prepare a chronology of the events
1995
There was an election in Ethiopia.
The Oromo people or the OLF have been able to properly participate.
- This was also the case in continuing elections, 200, 2005, 2010, 2015,
2021
2011
The OLF was designated as a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian
government
2014
SD was appointed the MTA’s information organisation [the MTA was a
Oromo self-help organisation that promotes cultural, historical and
political rights of the Oromo people]
By this time SD was also working in the university’s library as an
information technology assistant [and started to secretary assess
information on the internet for the MTA]
There were posted across the Oromia region in April-May of 2014
[concerning the fact that the Ethiopian Government was planning to
expand Addis Adaba which would displace 30 towns and villages in the
Oromia region without paying adequate compensation]
2015 - 2016
The protested [those that also took place in April – May of 2014]
continued from November 2015 into 2016
During numerous protected, security forces fired live ammunition into
the crowd resulting in injuries + deaths of several protestors near SD
[this took place between 2014 – 2017]
2017
An MTA meeting was raided by armed policemen. SD, his father and
brother were arrested, photographed, fingerprinted and interrogated
about their connections with the MTA and OLF.
Given one piece of bread + drink of water each day. No proper toilets.
Repeatedly asked many questions about various anti-government
political groups.
Pushes into a wall, punched, beaten with sticks, tied up and burnt with
cigarettes.
Released by a friend who was a policeman.
Father + brother disappeared.
2018
, SD did his best to keep his father garage business going.
Did not return to the library job as he was too scared that the use of
the internet would be discovered.
Abiy Ahmed because the first Oromo leader to be sworn as new prime
minister.
The Ethiopian government removed the OLF from its list of designated
terrorist organisation.
2019
OLF was recognised as a legally registered political party.
SD joined the local party
2020
Hachalu Hundessa, an Oromo cultural icon has been shot dead.
Protests in the street as a result of the death.
This was broken into violently by the police + SD has to flee for his life.
As the election was coming up there was harassment from the police,
this included disrespecting the OLF flag that was hung up outside the
office, threatening party official [like SD] with being arrested, the police
photographed people entering the office and disrupted political allies.
2021
Oromo Liberation Army [OLA] was re-designated as a terrorist group by
the Ethiopian government in May 2021.
May 2021 their office [OLF] was forcibly closed by the police + 12
members of the party were arrested
Armed police standing outside the building the next day.
Two people officers came to the garage and accused SD of being an
OLD member. They took his passport and identification card and
arrested SD.
The garage business licence was cancelled and goods seized by the
government.
SD escaped through the window while they were searching the
property.
2022
Spent months travelling to get to his only living relative [cousin]
Cousin arranged to hid SD to flee the county + got him a fake passport.
Jan 2022 hid on a truck carrying cattle into Kayne. This followed y
months hidden in various lorries, cars and boats.
Mid July 2022, SD arrived at the port of Dover, England and was taken
to a house where many immigration people were living.
Mid-October, the police + immigration officers raided the house and SD
was arrested for illegally entering the UK.
, 2. Prepare a list of key facts that potentially affect his claim as
described in (a) his statement set out below, (b) the medical
report set out below and (c) the Home Office’s Country Policy
and Information Note Ethiopia: Oromos, the Oromo Liberation
Front and the Oromo Liberation Army (March 2022)
FACTORS THAT SUPPORT HIS CLAIM
The medical report:
The information from the medical report supports the fact the SD was
tortured/subjected to abuse
The medical report is highly consistent with what SD has been alleged
This supports that fact that SD has a well-founded fear of being
persecuted [well-founded fear of persecution, weight is given in the
medical report]
a. Back & neck scars: burnt by police with cigarettes. They cannot be self-
inflicted as he can’t reach.
b. Right eyebrow, nose and upper lip scars: blunt trauma being pushed
against a way
c. Right forearm scar: beaten with sticks
d. Mental health: worries about father + brother, torture experienced in
travelling here, anxious about returning to Ethiopia, worries he will be
killed/tortured, seems to be suffering from PTSD
c. Frequent sleep disturbance, nightmares several times a week with
images of being tortured, nightmares several times of week of being
confined in a small space [usually back of the lorry when he cannot
breath], often waking up sweating from his sleep, frequent recurrent
intrusive distressing recollections, loss of concentration.
These findings corroborate with SD’s account of events.
PLUS, this evidence strongly aligns with para 2.6.2 and 2.6.3 of the
Ethiopia Home Office Guidance which acknowledges that detainees
often face abuse, and that torture is used to extract confessions from
alleged OLF members.
Para 2.4.13 of the Home Office Guidance:
‘a person with a significant history of membership or support for the
OLF or perceived by the authorities to have a significant history of
membership or support is likely to be at risk of persecution or serious
harm.’
SD has been perceived to be in the OLF group as stated in his
statement he was appointed as MTA’s organiser, joined OLF officially
in 2019 and attended meetings and distributed materials, his family
are also involved [brother + father]
