http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Torture-in-the-heart-of-Addis-Ababa/-/434750/2038982/-/qfft6cz/-/index.html
Torture in the heart of Addis, even as leaders gather in gleaming AU
building
By Laetitia Bader
Posted Saturday, October 19 2013 at 11:14
Many journalists and diplomats who attend events in Addis Ababa’s gleaming
new African Union building are probably unaware that it rests on the site
of one of Ethiopia’s most notorious prisons. While that prison was torn
down in 2007, its legacy of torture and abuse continues today at the heart
of the capital.
Over the past year, I have spoken to dozens of people who were held in a
detention centre called Maekelawi in central Addis. They described dire
conditions and a range of abusive interrogation methods to extract
information and confessions.
Since 2011, scores of high-profile individuals have been detained in
Maekelawi under Ethiopia’s draconian anti-terrorism law, including
journalists and opposition politicians, and held for months under the law’s
lengthy pre-charge detention period as their “cases” are prepared for trial.
“Getachew,” a 22-year-old ethnic Oromo, was snatched from his university
dorm, driven hundreds of kilometres to Addis Ababa, and locked up for eight
months in Maekelawi. His parents were never informed of his whereabouts; he
was never charged or given access to a lawyer; and never appeared before
court. He was ultimately released on condition that he would work for the
government.
Like Getachew, many of the people detained in Maekelawi over the past
decade are political prisoners — arrested because of their ethnicity, their
real or perceived political opinions and actions, or journalism work.
Voicing peaceful dissent or criticism of government policy is increasingly
risky.
In a new report, ‘They Want a Confession’: Torture and Ill-Treatment in
Ethiopia’s Maekelawi Police Station, Human Rights Watch documents how the
police who run Maekelawi have tortured and ill-treated detainees during
investigations. Former detainees held in the facility since 2010 described
how investigators slapped, kicked, and beat them with batons and gun butts.
Some were held in painful stress positions for hours upon end.
Some are held in solitary confinement for days or months. Getachew said he
was held alone and shackled for five months: “When I wanted to stand up it
was hard,” he told me. “I had to use my head, legs, and the walls to stand
up.”
Those held in Maekelawi’s two worst detention blocks, nicknamed by
residents Chalama Bet [dark house] and Tawla Bet [wooden house], described
particularly dire conditions.
To make matters worse, investigators use access to basic facilities and
needs to punish or reward detainees. Even access to the toilet can depend
on the whim of the police, as Getachew explained: “I was only allowed to
use the toilet once a day, although after two or three months, I was
allowed twice… They want to get something, and either they get some
evidence or they don’t.”
Access to daylight is also restricted; one person said that he was taken
outside for just a few minutes three times in 42 days in the dark cells.
Several former Chalama Bet detainees complained of lasting vision problems.
Detainees have also been denied access to their families and legal counsel,
particularly those detained on politically motivated charges.
Former detainees described being forced, often while being verbally abused
and beaten, to sign statements and confessions for crimes they did not
commit. Sometimes the confessions are presented in court as evidence or
used to put pressure on those released to support the government and ruling
party, as in Getachew’s case.
Most recently, the prosecution submitted statements gathered in Maekelawi
from prominent members of the country’s Muslim community who were charged
under the anti-terrorism law in 2012 for organising peaceful protests.
There is credible information that several of the defendants were
mistreated in Maekelawi, making their statements questionable.
The fate of those passing through Maekelawi’s gates is largely unknown to
the outside world. Tackling the regular abuses of the rights of political
prisoners’ right in the heart of the capital requires first acknowledging
the violations and then making a commitment to address the culture of
impunity among security forces.
Ethiopia’s leaders should publicly state that torture and other ill
treatment is prohibited, and should take concrete steps to hold to account
those found responsible for these abuses.
Most important, the Ethiopian government should ensure that no one is ever
arrested for exercising their basic rights, including by peacefully
expressing their political opinions.
That means urgently overhauling Ethiopia’s draconian civil society and
counter-terrorism laws. But change is unlikely to happen unless key
regional actors such as the African Union, the African Commission on Human
Rights Peoples’ Rights, and Ethiopia’s foreign donors make their concerns
known.
Turning a blind eye to the abuses in the centre of Addis Ababa should no
longer be an option.
*Laetitia Bader is an Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.*
Received on Wed Oct 23 2013 - 16:52:01 EDT