23 inmates dead in Ethiopia prison blaze
AFRICA / 7 September 2016, 5:33pm
Hadra Ahmed
Addis Ababa - Families and relatives of prisoners are desperate for
answers after Ethiopia's high-security prison, Kilinto, located on the
outskirts, south of the capital Addis Ababa, caught fire on Saturday.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/23-inmates-dead-in-ethiopia-prison-blaze-2065598
23 inmates dead in Ethiopia prison blaze
AFRICA / 7 September 2016, 5:33pm
Hadra Ahmed
The fire broke out at around 8:10am and lasted a good “two hours”
before the fire brigade from the Addis Ababa Fire and Emergency
Prevention and Rescue Agency arrived at the scene.
File photo
State media, quoting an exclusive statement sent to it from the
Government Communications Affairs Office (GCAO), said that 23 inmates
had died, amongst which 21 from a stampede, burns and suffocation,
while two were shot dead as they were apparently trying to escape.
Though the cause of the blaze remains unknown, the government says it
is still investigating.
However, families are anxious to know the whereabouts of their loved
ones. “I do not know where my son is. Is he shot dead or burnt alive
or even is he alive? I have no idea. I rampaged everywhere in the
prison compound, shouting and asking for him. I searched for him in
hospitals but no one tells me anything and I could not find my son,”
bemoaned Muchit Teka, the mother of Yonatan Tesfaye, a young senior
opposition Blue Party member and prominent rights activist.
Tesfaye, the spokesman of the opposition Semayawi (Blue) party, was
arrested in December 2015 and held in lengthy pre-trial detention for
comments he posted on Facebook. He was held without charge for months
and it was not until May 4 this year that he was charged with
“incitement, planning, preparation, conspiracy and attempt” to commit
a terrorist act.
The government says his posts against a government plan to extend the
capital's administrative authority to the Oromia region were in
pursuit of the objectives of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which
it considers a terrorist organisation. “Even if they are dead they
should let us know as it is a customary and the right thing to do to
rest the dead properly,” Teka cried. “How can they be silent about
this? Don't they have families? What if they were in our shoes?”
Tesfaye's mother was not the only one lamenting the silence of the
government in the wake of the deadly blaze. The compound is being
guarded by security forces but families are waiting on the streets
around it for information, while others desperately search hospital
records. “We searched for them in hospitals and the prison but they
are not there and no one would tell us. The government has the
responsibility to inform where our families are,” said Bontu Bekele-
Son of Bekele Gerba, a prominent politician and deputy chairman of the
Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC).
Local media reported that two buildings, as well as recreational and
other facilities which inmates used were damaged by the fire.
According to reports, nine injured inmates and police members are
receiving medical treatment. The remainder of the prison population
were transferred to various other correctional facilities as large
parts of the Kilinto facility was damaged.
The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front is a
multi-ethnic coalition made up of four parties.
The opposition and political analysts, though, say it is dominated by
the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front. This is the main cause for the
unrest, which according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch
group, has seen at least 500 people killed by security forces since
the protests began in November.
Though demonstrations first started among Ethiopian Muslim communities
in 2012 demanding equal rights of people, it later spread to
Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, the Oromo, and then to the Amhara,
the second most populous group.
The Ethiopian government, which is a close ally of many Western
nations because of its strategic geographical location in the region,
last month rejected a United Nations request that it send observers,
saying it alone was responsible for the security of its citizens.
Various international organisations have released statements
expressing their “grave concern” at the deteriorating situation in the
country.
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democracy Front, which is often
accused by rights groups of regularly cracking down on the opposition
and jailing journalists, won every seat in the 547- seat parliament in
elections last year.
African News Agency
Received on Wed Sep 07 2016 - 19:18:50 EDT