AI NEWSLETTER JAN/FEB, 1999.

[uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

POSTED 11 JUN 99, 6:00AM

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER, JAN/FEB 1999.
THE ALARMING CASE OF SADIQ SHEK ELMI

The case of Sadiq Shek Elmi is symptomatic of several failings within
the current refugee determination process within Australia, the most
prominent being the lack of protection under Australian law for people
refused refugee status not to be returned to a country where they face
torture or death. They cast a dark shadow over Australia's voluntary
annual intake of refugee from camps overseas and its policies on
humanitarian protection. It is only the third time that a communication
has been submitted to the UNCAT(The United Nations Committee Against
Torture) against Australia.

This narrative is from AIA's perspective. Many other persons were
involved in the action to prevent the deportation of Sadiq Shek Elmi on
19 November 1998, not least his lawyers in Melbourne and activists
through the country.

'I would rather stay for one week in Australia to extent my life rather
than going back to Somalia'. Sadiq Shek Elmi, after being asked by an
Australian Government official if he wanted to return to Somalia.

Sadiq Shek Elmi was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia and is
from the persecuted minority Shikal community, a long-established
Islamic religious community outside the main clan structure. As such
they a re a particularly vulnerable community as they have no armed
militia to protect them against continuing massive human rights abuses
within the context of Somalia's civil wars, including arbitrary and
deliberate killings, torture and kidnapping.

Amnesty International has documented an overwhelming number of human
rights abuses in Somalia since 1991 within the  context of civil wars.
Almost four years after the United Nations withdrawal from the country
in 1995, the former Somali Republic is still a collapsed state without a
central government and with no recognized or effective administration,
security, or rule of law.

Sadiq Shek Elmi originally worked as a goldsmith in Mogadishu. His
father, a Shikal community elder and his brother were killed there in
1991 after his father reportedly refused to 'give' one of his sons to
the Hawiye militia. His sister committed suicide in 1994 following her
multiple rape by Hawiye clan malitia.

Having fled the horrors of the civil wars, Sadiq Shek Elmi arrived in
Australia in October 1997 without any valid travel documents (there is
no Australian diplomatic presence in Somalia and the government
continues to advise its citizens against travelling to the area). Most
surviving members of the small and physically distinct Shikal community
have already fled the country with no foreseeable prospect of safe
return and restitution. In Australia, Sadiq Shek Elmi was subjected to
mandatory detention as an 'unlawful non-citizen' under Australian law
and detained at Maribynong Immigration Detention Centre in Melbourne
until his refugee application was determined.

After lodging an application with the Department of Immigration and
Multicultural Affairs(DIMA) and being refused refugee status, SAdiq Shek
Elmi applied to the Refugee Review Tribunal for review, but was
rejected.

Sadiq Shek Elmi managed to contact a lawyer in Melbourne who wrote a
letter on his behalf to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural
Affairs requesting that he exercise his discretion under the Migration
Act and allow Sadiq Shek Elmi to stay on humanitarian grounds.

In a letter dated 22 July 1998 the Minister replied to Sadiq Shek Elmi
saying that he had decided to not even consider exercising his
discretion in the matter, a decision which is non-reviewable and
non-compellable and therefore leaves no further avenues of appeal

On 22 October 1998 Sadiq Shek Elmi received a letter from DIMA advising
that he would be removed to Somalia a week later via Perth,
Johannesburg, and then on to Mogadishu. The day before his forced
removal on 28 October 1998, Sadiq Shek Elmi contacted AIA requesting
help to prevent him being deported.

In light of the terrible conditions in Somalia and UN classifications of
various danger areas--Mogadishu is regarded as a 'crisis zone'--AIA
immediately wrote to the Minister protesting at the planned removal of
Sadiq Shek Elmi and reminding the government of its obligations under
international law. 1/
 
Despite AI A's intervention, Sadiq Shek Elmi was taken to the airport
the next day where a private security company had been contracted to
escort him to Johannesburg. The deportation did not take place due to
Sadiq Shek Elmi's protests and the captain of the aircraft refusing to
take him on board. He was returned to the detention centre in Melbourne
and allegedly held in isolation.

Sadiq Shek Elmi's lawyers then obtained a High Court injunction
preventing his deportation, but this was lifted on 16 NOvember leaving
no protection for Sadiq prohibiting his removal under domestic law.
Sadiq Shek Elmi's lawyer filed a communication with the United Nations
Committee Against Torture (UNCAT).

AI also made representations on Sadiq Shek Elmi's behalf. An Urgent
Action was issued on Wednesday 18 November 1998 by the International
Secretariat in London after Sadiq Shek Elmi gave AI his consent.

It was only the third UA ever issued by AI on a case in Australia and
was immediately received by several hundred network participants in the
UK alone. Later that evening, letters started to arrive at Ministers
Ruddock and Downer's offices with copies to UNHCR. AI had moved into
action.

Thirty minutes later in Australia, a second attempt was made to remove
Sadiq Shek Elmi and he was given five minutes to collect his belongings.
A fellow detainee tried to contact Sadiq Shek Elmi's lawyer but the
phone line went dead after he was able to tell her that her client was
being removed.

The London-based Australian researcher remembers the situation:'I was
about to leave the office for home when I learnt Mr Elmi was being taken
to the airport. The following six hours became the most dramatic in my
fourteen years in Amnesty. With the UA network already in operation and
a colleague assisting from her home, I used two phone lines, two fax
machines and two computers to manage an information flow over three
continents... Feedback received from Australia a few hours later was
very encouraging, and it became clear that the response to our appeal by
Amnesty supporters and other in Australia had far exceeded my
expectations. I went home for a few hours' sleep feeling confident that
AI's highly-organised global action system once again had helped prevent
injury or death for another human being'.

AI's action had indeed worked. AIA distributed the action on Thursday
morning throughout Australia to church organisations, lawyers, trade
unions, politicians, academics, airline officials and many more, while
Sadiq Shek Elmi was being flown from Melbourne to Perth to connect with
flights to Johannesburg and Mogadishu. In Perth, a protest was organised
at the airport, where the Trades and Labour Council endorsed an official
protest line and Amnesty and Uniting Church members joined with local
supporters to demand that Sadiq Shek Elmi not be deported.

That day, the government received a request from UNCAT not to expel
Sadiq Shek Elmi while his case was under consideration. The government
stated in court that it would give 48 hours notice of any further plans
to remove Sadiq Shek Elmi.

The following morning he was removed to Port Hedland detention centre,
but not before meeting with an Amnesty representative in Perth and
thanking all those involved on his behalf in saving him from being sent
back to Somalia.

On 8 January 1999, DIMA conceded court proceedings that Sadiq Shek Elmi
should have access to his lawyer and transferred him back to the
Melbourne detention centre. It appears that he will be subjected to
further mandatory detention until the UNCAT decides on his case. DIMA
have confirmed that he will not be deported until the UN decision.

Throughout the legal proceedings, the government asked the High Court
and the federal court 'to prohibit publication of anything' identifying
Sadiq Shek Elmi. The government warned of serious consequences if it
continued to campaign on his case. On 8 December 1988 Sadiq Shek Elmi's
lawyers managed to have this court suppression order lifted.

19 November 1998 will remain in the memories of all those who worked on
the case and were involved in the tremendous effort which persuaded the
Australian government that Sadiq Shek Elmi should not be deported. The
mobilising of so many activists in each state showed the effectiveness
and power of Amnesty International's campaigning. The case was
publicised across four continents, with many hundreds of letters being
sent to the Australian authorities with copies to the UNHCR.

Sadiq Shek Elmi has thanked all those who assisted in preventing his
forcible removel from the country. When interviewed by AIA on the day of
deportation, he said 'I felt like I was walking down the corridor of
death and I was taken out'
(Paul Whittaker)
[Paul Whittaker is a lawyer and volunteer with the National Refugee
Coordinator in the AI National office in Sydney. AIA needs more
volunteers to work on casework and policy work. If you are interested,
please send a CV to the national office or telephone 02-9217-7643 for
more detail.

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