Friday, Jan. 20 is the fifth anniversary of the day the Kenyan government illegally put a Canadian citizen on a plane to Ethiopia. Bashir Makhtal is still in an Ethiopian prison, serving a life sentence for allegedly supporting an armed group. No credible evidence against him has ever come to light. His trial was unfair and he was not allowed access to consular support for more than a year.

Conservative MP John Baird has been working on this case since before he became foreign affairs minister. It has not been enough. The prime minister must remind Ethiopia in no uncertain terms that Canada has not forgotten about Makhtal, or about the Ethiopian government's other rights abuses.

Makhtal, who has been a Canadian citizen since 1994, was working as a trader in Mogadishu when Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006. Makhtal fled to the Kenyan border, where he was detained and, a few weeks later, sent to Ethiopia. Although Makhtal was born in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, he was carrying a Canadian passport. Ethiopia's interest in him stems from his heritage; his grandfather was a founder of the Ogaden National Liberation Front.