NAIROBI, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - At least 10 suspects detained in the aftermath of Ethiopia's 2006 invasion of Somalia are still languishing in Ethiopian jails, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Wednesday.

The 60-page report entitled 'Why Am I Still Here?' investigates the fate of dozens of people detained in Kenya and Somalia as they were fleeing the conflict in Somalia.

'Nine Kenyan nationals and one Canadian-Ethiopian remain in Ethiopian prisons, some 15 to 21 months after they were first arrested. The whereabouts of 22 Somalis, Ethiopian Ogadenis, Eritreans, and Kenyans rendered to Somalia in early 2007 remain unknown,' the report said.

'The dozens of people caught up in the secret Horn of Africa renditions in 2007 have suffered in silence too long,' said Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch and author of the report.

HRW said Kenya detained at least 150 men, women and children from more than 18 countries -- including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada -- in operations near the Somali border.

They were held without charge in Nairobi and dozens of them were later rendered on flights to Somalia and handed over to the Ethiopian military, which also detained an unknown of people in Somalia.

They were eventually transferred to detention facilities in Addis Ababa and HRW describes how several of them were tortured.

'From February to May 2007, Ethiopian security officers daily transported detainees -- including several pregnant women -- to a villa where US officials interrogated them about suspected terrorist links,' the report said.

While most suspects were sent home when the interrogations ended, some remain abandoned in Ethiopia.

'The previous Kenyan government deported its own citizens and then left them to rot in Ethiopian jails,' Daskal said. 'The new Kenyan government should reverse course.'

The rights watchdog also urged Addis Ababa to immediately release all those illegally detained who remain behind bars.