Ethiopian accused of torture loses deportation appeal

July 29, 2006 (ATLANTA) — An Ethiopian immigrant accused of torturing and killing dissidents in a military dictatorship in his native country during the 1970s has lost his appeal to stay in the U.S.

Kelbessa Negewo was ordered deported a year ago after he was arrested in January in an Atlanta suburb. In the early 1990s, three women, including one who was working at the same hotel that employed him as a bellhop, identified him as their torturer and filed a lawsuit against him.

Michael Tyler, the attorney who represented the women, said “it’s altogether fitting and proper that he be returned to Ethiopia where he has been convicted for his acts of murder and torture and sentenced to life imprisonment.”

Negewo faces life in prison in his former homeland, where in 2002 he was convicted in absentia of human rights violations including torture and 13 killings.

Negewo has denied all accusations and claimed that he would be tortured if he were deported to Ethiopia.

Negewo fled to the United States with a student visa in the late 1980s and eventually became a U.S. citizen. He renounced his citizenship in October 2004 after the government moved to strip him of it, and that opened the door for the arrest and deportation proceedings.

Officials allege that during the 1970s, Negewo was part of a military dictatorship that ruled Ethiopia. They say that in his role as chairman of a special government unit, he was responsible for having numerous civilians — mostly students — incarcerated, tortured and executed by firing squad.

Homeland security officials say Negewo lied about his human rights violations to obtain U.S. citizenship.

(ST/AP)