[ad_1]
(OPride) – Prisoners in Jijiga Central Prison in the Ethiopian capital of Somalia are subjected to the barbaric attacks of their captors during the medieval period, who rape, kill and starve them. This is revealed in a detailed Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the activities of prison guards and regional security forces, known as "Liyu Police".
The report "We look like the dead" includes heart-rending testimonies of former detainees, including women who were forcefully forcibly abandoned in their prison cells, as well as allegedly sadistic acts of torture. personally by the police chief Liyu among other officials. All detainees interviewed were subjected to extreme forms of abuse and witnessed deaths by torture, starvation or illness. They hold Liyu's police and senior prison officials directly responsible for their fate.
Aerial view of "Jail Ogaden" on Google Maps. The establishment is just minutes from Jijiga University and many cafes, restaurants and hotels are nearby
The 88-page HRW report released today is the first of its kind It took a lot of effort to authenticate the reports of the horrors taking place in Somali prisons. The government of Somali regional president Abdi Mohamoud Omar, or "Abdi Illey" in power since 2010, has a proven track record of systematic abuse and murder of political dissidents and their relatives. The document, written by Human Rights Advocate Felix Horne, compiles the testimonies of some one hundred former inmates, former jailers and others with direct knowledge of the activities conducted at Ogaden Prison
. Illey. He chaired the Liyu police training and is accused of a myriad of crimes and abuses
Former detainees, jailed at the site between 2011 and 2018, explain that the several thousand prisoners of Prison is held there indefinitely, on the pretext that they were supporters or members of the separatist armed group of the Ogaden Liberation Front (ONLF). The overcrowded prison lacked food, water and supplies for medical and health needs. The report says that an unknown number of inmates die from diseases and difficult conditions of settlement. Inmates do not have access to visitors, lawyers and can spend years in the institution without ever appearing in court. But it is the punishment inflicted on them that earned the prison authorities a reputation for being cruel and barbaric. The crimes committed against women prisoners are particularly worrying.
The rape of women has long since become a standardized practice in Ogaden Prison, according to interviewees. The former detainees describe women who are regularly taken out of their cells at night and raped by Liyu police officers or the security authorities. "You'd hear shouting all the time," an inmate told HRW. "When people come back to the room, you see them tremble, shudder and cry, every night I was scared because I was wondering if I would be next." The regional prison commission is mandated to protect prisoner dignity in prisons, but in the Somali region the police chief is also head of Liyu police, Abdirahman Labagole, who is accused of involvement in the torture and rape of detainees. same
Liyu Police Chief and Somali Commissioner of Prisons Abdirahman Labagole. Former detainees accused him of personally raping detainees.
A former prison guard described having received the order from Labagole to "look for ladies".
"He told me to take women back to jail. Just ladies. We are simply free to come in and take people, there is no process for us. "
Shamaahiye Sheikh Farah is another senior prison official accused of being personally involved in raping detainees." He [Shamaahiye] raped many people in our room, "said one inmate. Another detainee described an incident in which Shamaahiye ordered Liyu's police officers to gang rape a group of girls, "You are our donkeys," Shamaahiye reportedly told the victims, "Even God can not save you from us.
Mohammed Ismail, chairman of the America-based Somali Regional Alliance for Justice (SRAJ) political opposition party, has long accused the regional government of accepting rape and torture. In the past, he has called for the closure of Jail Ogaden and many other sites where he says similar abuses are committed.
"The report is incredibly disturbing," said party chairman Opride . "SRAJ has spoken to countless former detainees telling us about their horrific experiences in this facility.We continue to call for the immediate closure of Ogaden Prison to prosecute those responsible for these cruelties."
HRW has interviewed up to ten women who gave birth to children after being forced into prison. One woman described being forced to give birth in the prison without any professional help and only her co-detainees at her side.
I asked [medical care] for a treatment for my birth because I knew that I was going to give birth soon, "says the woman. "Liyu's police said" put him [the baby] in the toilet, they will not help, they will just become supporters of the ONLF. "Without food or extra care, the newborns would die in a few days, while the other children
of the others said they were immersed in the water to simulate drowning, held in stressful positions , like having the four members tied together behind their backs and being left like that for hours, and interviewees also witnessed the death to death of their fellow detainees. "Every morning we would go through the list of those who had died or just did not come back to their cell, "recalls an inmate," We lived in a constant state of fear that we would be next. "
Many inmates remember being held in the position of stress "fig" (Image: John Holmes for HRW)
Only one hundred men were forced to undress and form a long line, each holding the bads of the man behind him. The guards would have laughed while taking pictures of the humiliated victims (Image: John Holmes for HRW)
HRW published excerpts from a 2011 self-badessment video produced by the regional government Somali. In this document, prison guards and authorities calmly discuss the prevalence of rape, torture and death at Ogaden Prison. The video, allegedly filmed at the request of President Abdi Illey, was delivered to HRW by a presidential advisor who fled the country. In one section of the video, we hear a uniformed officer describe the death of an inmate. "His two loins failed as a result of the beatings and he died," said the officer, almost nonchalantly.
Screen capture of "gimgema", a video obtained by HRW from a 2011 self-badessment meeting in which Somali prison authorities openly admitted to horrific abuses, rape and murders at the Ogaden Prison
Report writer Felix Horne explained to Opride that HRW has not noticed any signs of improvement whatsoever in the conduct of the Somali regional security forces. "The nature of the atrocities may have changed, we do not hear about villagers mbadacred because of alleged support from the ONLF, as was so often the case in But the same atrocities are committed against businessmen, dissidents or villagers along the border with the state of Oromia. "
Elected in April, the Prime Minister Ethiopian Minister Abiy Ahmed has promised the federal government a widespread practice in Ethiopia Recently, the government announced the dismissal of five federal prison officials as part of efforts to eradicate human rights abuses behind bars
But these officials are totally uninvolved in the procedures in Somali prisons Region: Federal officials rarely intervene when Liyu police commit gross violations of local law and The regional force was a key instigator of community violence last year that led to the displacement of one million Oromos and Somalis from their homes. It remains to be seen if the magnitude of the horrors published in the latest report will convince the federal government to curb the regional government and those who commit horrific crimes at Ogaden Prison.
The full report can be read on the HRW website here
[ad_2]
Source link
