Decision on Strike Out of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Communication 695/18: Mr. Abadir M. Ibrahim (representing Mr. Zelalem Kibret) v. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Summary 1. The Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Secretariat) received a complaint on 30 May 2018 from Mr. Abadir M. Ibrahim (the Complainant) on behalf of Mr. Zelalem Kibret (the Victim). The Complaint is submitted against the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (the Respondent State) which is a State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Charter), having ratified the same on 15 June 1998. 1 2. The Complainant submits that the Victim is a founding member of the "Zone 9" blogging collective which sought to create a space for dialogue in what they considered an increasingly repressive media and political environment in the Respondent State. The blogging collective wrote in opposition to the narrowing of political and civic space in Ethiopia and in opposition to the adjacent violations of human rights and democratic principles. The Complainant submits that the blog sought to fill the gap in public discourse regarding the augmentation of human rights violations, political violence, corruption and social injustice. 3. The Complainant submits that the blogging collective website was regularly blocked by the Ethiopian Government and when that happened, the Victim and other bloggers used social media platforms to disseminate their work. 4. The Complainant submits that the Victim was arrested on 21 August 2012 and detained for 3 hours by the Ethiopian authorities after a period of surveillance. The Complainant further submits that the Victim was subjected to severe physical assault. The Victim was repeatedly forced onto the floor and slammed against the wall, flogged with a power cable, punched, threatened with a firearm and hit with the bottom of a gun. 5. The Complainant submits that the beatings took place in a local office of the Ethiopian' s Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) which is the ruling party. Two strangers identified themselves to the Victim as the agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service. 1 http://www.achpr.org/instru ments/achpr /ratification/ 2