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Last week, Human Rights Watch published "We Are Like the Dead", a report on torture, rape and other serious human rights violations in the famous Ethiopian prison of Ethiopia.
Among the most responsible officials for these abuses is the president of the Somali region, Abdi Mohamoud Omar, commonly known as "Abdi Illey". Liyu's abusive police, implicated in many serious rights abuses in the Somali region and increasingly in the neighboring region of Oromia, is reporting directly to him.
In response to the report, Abdi Illey released many prisoners from Ogaden Prison to be closed and converted into a mosque. The federal government also reportedly asked for his resignation.
But Abdi Illey does not seem to be quiet. On July 11, he made daring speeches to the Somali regional parliament and state television, accusing former Ethiopian intelligence chief, Getachew Assefa, of leading abuses. He also supported Prime Minister Abiy and his reform program and asked for forgiveness. This is a shocking 180 degree turn of a man whose position was so safe in the past, despite numerous allegations of abuse, allegedly because of his close ties to Ethiopian federal intelligence and security
. dozens of Ethiopian Somali victims or relatives of victims who stress that this is not enough. They want justice. They rightly argue that Abdelley can not launder his role in a decade of serious crimes in the Somali region by entering into a political agreement to avoid justice. Accountability is important: it sends a message to attackers – past, present and future – that there is a price to pay for their crimes. A former 42-year-old prisoner said: "We can not forgive him what he and his police have done to our people: he has destroyed a generation, his police have killed my brother, my mother is dead in prison, and my other brother has disappeared My family is gone … We will never forgive him He has to face justice for what he has done. "
The many reforms announced by Abiy have captivated the imagination of a nation. He is notoriously lacking in his many speeches so far a commitment to responsibility, to ensure that those who have committed serious crimes in Ethiopia will be held accountable. If, and how, Abdi Illey and others in the Somali region face investigations for the many abuses in Ogaden Prison will be a litmus test of Abiy's commitment to justice and to to rule in abusive security forces. This is important for the victims and their families, but also to send an important message to the security forces that the abuses will no longer be tolerated.
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