Ethiopia’s prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, on Wednesday has announced that political prisoners will be released and a notorious detention centre will be closed what he called an effort to “widen the democratic space for all.”
Ethiopia has been accused of human rights abuses, including using mass arrests to stifle opposition and torturing prisoners in Maekelawi, a detention center in the capital city of Addis Ababa.
Rights groups and activists welcomed the surprise promise by Hailemariam Desalegn to “widen the democratic space for all”, saying it could herald the end of a repressive, violent era for the country.
“Political prisoners that are facing prosecutions and are already under arrest will either have their cases annulled or be pardoned,” Desalegn said at a press conference. “And the notorious prison cell that was traditionally called Maekelawi will be closed down and turned into a museum.”
The announcement comes after a wave of protests against the government that began in November 2015. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands jailed, Ethiopia’s human rights commission said in April.
Befeqadu Hailu, a human rights advocate who was arrested in 2014 wrote in a blogpost from Maekelawi prison, “They spend a great deal of time pretending that they already know the evils you’ve committed. If they cannot successfully extract information from you in this way, they force confessions by punching, beating, extended physical exercise and flogging.”
Amnesty International said the government should make good on its promise straight away. “We are calling on the Ethiopian authorities to implement today’s decision as quickly as possible by immediately and unconditionally releasing them,” said its Ethiopia researcher, Fisseha Tekle.
It is unclear how many prisoners will be released, under what conditions and when. It is also unclear how the authorities will define a political prisoner and whether they will be released only from Maekelawi or from other detention centres across the country.
>Juthy Saha