COMMUNICATION 383/10 – MOHAMMED ABDULLAH SALEH AL-ASAD v. THE REPUBLIC OF DJIBOUTI SUMMARY OF COMPLAINT Summary of Facts 1. This Communication was received at the Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (“the Secretariat,” and “the Commission”) on 10 December 2009. It is submitted by Mohammed Abdullah Saleh Al-Asad (the Complainant) through the Global Justice Clinic (previously the ‘International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC)’) of the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice, Washington Square Legal Services Inc, New York University School of Law; and the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (INTERIGHTS), (hereinafter jointly referred to as ‘Representatives’). 2. The Communication is submitted against the Republic of Djibouti, a Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (‘the Charter’) since 20 December, 19911 and bound by its provisions since 20 March 1992 in terms of Article 65 of the Charter. 3. The Complainant states that he is a citizen of Yemen. From 1985 until 2003 he lived in the Republic of Tanzania and established a family there. He also had a successful business. To facilitate his residence and business undertakings including acquisition of land in Tanzania, he obtained a forged Tanzanian birth certificate and a passport. 4. He states that on 26 December, 2003 around 9:00 pm while at his home in Dar es Salaam, two men who spoke the Swahili language and appeared to him to be Tanzanians apprehended and blindfolded him; bound his hands; and abruptly took him to an apartment where he was questioned for about five hours concerning his entry and residence in Tanzania and how he obtained a Tanzanian passport. 5. In the early hours of 27 December, 2003 he was once again handcuffed, blindfolded, and taken to the airport where he was put on a small aircraft and flown to an undisclosed destination. The Tanzanian authorities did not inform the 1 ACHPR “Ratification Table: African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights” http://www.achpr.org/instruments/achpr/ratification/ (accessed on 6 February, 2014) 1

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