ETHIOPIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION REPORTS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 001753

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KJUS PREL ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION REPORTS ON
PRISON CONDITIONS -- ABYSMAL

REF: ADDIS 737

Classified By: Ambassador Donald Yamamoto. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) released
its first-ever thematic report on prison conditions in
Ethiopia in December 2008. The report sheds light on
inadequate prison conditions - including overcrowding,
unhygienic conditions, insufficient medical care, food,
water, and education opportunities - and human rights
violations occurring within the prisons. Interestingly, the
conclusions of the report are inconsistent with the content,
stating that "the visits did not identify major problems in
terms of respect for basic human rights." EHRC Deputy
Director Demoze Mame told PolOff that while most prison
officials expressed a desire to improve prison conditions,
some government officials criticized the report for
"tarnishing Ethiopia's reputation" as the government cannot
afford to implement the proposed recommendations. EHRC and
the Parliament's Legal and Administrative Affairs Standing
Committee have articulated plans to follow up later this year
to see what measures prison officials have taken to improve
prison conditions, though no date has been set. As the
Ethiopian Government's human rights body, EHRC has been
notorious for ignoring, glossing over, or under-reporting
abuses. While the content of this report suggests greater
openness than we've seen in the past from EHRC, it is
reasonable to expect that the report's findings still
under-play the extent of abuses in Ethiopian prisons. End
Summary.


2. (U) The EHRC report is based on a series of visits made by
EHRC officials to 35 correctional facilities and police
stations around the country during the 2007/2008 fiscal year.
The report indicated that there are 120 prisons throughout
Ethiopia, housing 80,974 prisoners, of which 2,123 are women
and 487 are children living in prison with a parent. While
EHRC did not have problems gaining access to most prisons,
local officials in Jijiga prevented it from visiting the
correctional facility there.

Human Rights Violations
--------------


3. (C) Though the EHRC report describes several serious human
rights violations occurring in some prisons (described
below),the report concludes by stating that "the visits did
not identify major problems in terms of respect for basic
human rights." Ethiopia's constitution, as well as
international conventions that Ethiopia has ratified, grants
prisoners the right to a speedy trial, to be presumed
innocent, and to be released on bail. However, the EHRC
investigation found that the overwhelming majority of
detainees in Ethiopia's prisons are being held on pending
charges. For example, only ten percent of prisoners in
Gambella prison have been convicted and 46 percent in Addis
Ababa. In mid-May, presenting a ten-month performance report
to Parliament, the Director General of the Federal Police
reported that of the 45,000 criminal cases filed at the
federal first instance court last year, 65 percent of the
cases were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence. In
addition, the report noted that a lack of modern
record-keeping systems in all except one prison (in Dessie)
has resulted in prisoners not benefiting from parole and not
receiving credit for time served.


4. (C) The EHRC report states that most prisons have
complaint mechanisms accessible to inmates. In some prisons
the regional prison administrator visits the prison every two
weeks to solicit and discuss complaints with prisoners.
However, inmates in some facilities complained that they are
pressured by prison workers not to take their complaints to
the appropriate officials. EHRC reports that this denial of
access to complaint mechanisms "has had severe human rights
consequences. For instance, three in four inmates in the
Gambella Correctional Center are still awaiting judgment on
their cases while around 90 percent of inmates within this
group have never been brought to a court of law." Despite
this quote from within the EHRC report, in the conclusion it
states, "The rights of inmates to lodge complaints with the
administration...are respected."

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5. (C) According to the information the EHRC team gathered,
prisoners have a good relationship with prison administrators
in most prisons. However, prisoners in Tembien, Jimma,
Chiro, Nekempt, Adama, Asosa, Adabi Toli, Benishangul, and
Gambella complained to EHRC officials of beatings,
psychological abuse, and labor exploitation (mainly of
females). The EHRC report states that "prisoners at
Benishangul prison reported unusual forms of punishment such
as beatings, suffocation by immersion in barrels of water,
forcing inmates to roll on wet mud, sprinkling water on
inmates' bodies prior to beatings, cuffing, and humiliating
insults." Despite these published reports, Pastor Daniel
Gebreselassie (known as Pastor Dan) of Justice for All/Prison
Fellowship Ethiopia (JFA-PFE- an NGO that seeks to improve
prison conditions),recently told PolOff that there is no
torture occurring in Ethiopia's prisons.


6. (C) PolOff has received several reports of beatings,
torture, and abuse in Ethiopia's non-traditional detention
facilities from individuals who were formerly detained
(Reftel). JFA-PFE Pastor Dan visited Ma-ekelawi jail
recently, which is notorious for its reputation as a center
of torture. Pastor Dan interviewed some prisoners (trusted,
long-term contacts of his) who reported that they had been
beaten and tortured. When Pastor Dan raised this with the
Police Commissioner, the Commissioner denied the allegations,
stating that their policy did not allow for torture. Pastor
Dan offered to interview the prisoners in the presence of the
Police Commissioner, which Pastor Dan expects may happen in
August.

Insufficient Health Care, Food, Water
--------------


7. (U) According to JFA-PFE Pastor Dan, the government
provides eight birr per day (USD 0.60) per prisoner for food,
water, and health care. (NOTE: Ten years ago the government
provided one birr per day, according to JFA-PFE. END NOTE).
EHRC reported that it has major concerns about health care
problems observed in prisons. Some prisons do not have
clinics, and most do not have adequate medical supplies and
health personnel. Some prisons refer seriously ill prisoners
to government hospitals, but in some regions privatized
health care facilities prevent prisoners from being treated
free of charge. In Almata prison in Tigray, prisoners
referred to hospitals for treatment are required to cover
transportation expenses and pay police to escort them to the
hospital. EHRC reported that some prisoners die because of
absence of sufficient health care, notably in Shashamene
Correctional Facility where four people died during an
epidemic.


8. (U) EHRC found that in Tigray, SNNPR, Oromiya, Afar, and
Amhara regions (most of the country) the quality and quantity
of food given to prisoners is insufficient. Most prisoners
rely on supplemental food brought in by family members and
friends. There are serious shortages of water (sometimes for
several weeks at a time) in Adab Toli prison, Afar region,
and Adwa prison (Tigray). In several other prisons, inmates
receive only one liter of water per day. The water shortages
cause unhygienic conditions, and most prisons lack
appropriate sanitary facilities. Since most correctional
facilities are overcrowded and many are located in warm
climates, EHRC designated shortage of water as a "pressing
problem deserving serious attention."

Unhygienic and Overcrowded
--------------


9. (U) EHRC reports that "the sanitary services in most of
the correctional facilities in our country do not fulfill the
appropriate conditions for the humane treatment of inmates."
Many of the prisons were built prior to the 1950's for
temporary detention or other purposes (i.e. residences,
warehouses). Though the number of prisoners has increased
dramatically, few prisons have been built or modified since
then, resulting in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions in
many prisons. EHRC reported that most prisons have separate
buildings for men, women, and juvenile offenders, as well as
rooms for training and education, places of worship (except
Adab Toli and Mekele),a medical facility, kitchen, and
restrooms (except Abyi-adi). However, these areas often
serve many more prisoners than regulations allow. In many

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facilities inmates use containers as toilets at night, and
consequently the crowded sleeping quarters are "permeated
with a fetid odor." According to article 36(3) of the
constitution, juvenile defenders should be kept separately
from adults. However, in all prisons except Jima juvenile
offenders share bedrooms with adults, sometimes even with
adults serving a death sentence. In Welkite prison, female
prisoners share rest rooms with prison employees.

Reports of Underground Prisons
--------------


10. (C) PolOff continues to receive reports from several
sources that underground prisons are operating throughout the
country. Most are located at military camps but are
allegedly used as overflow detention centers following mass
arrests. These underground prisons are allegedly located in
Dedesa, Bir Sheleko, Tolay, Hormat, Bulate, Tatek, and
Senkele. JFA-PFE Pastor Dan informed the Ambassador in early
June that there is an underground prison in Jijiga where 250
people are detained under joint National Intelligence
Security Services (NISS) and Federal Police control.
However, in a mid-July meeting Pastor Dan told PolOff that he
does not think that there are underground prisons in
Ethiopia.

EHRC Recommendations and Backlash
--------------


11. (C) Following the investigation, EHRC's recommendations
include increasing food, medical, and education budgets,
constructing new buildings, supplying water tankers,
establishing treatment centers for mentally ill prisoners,
expediting pending court cases, clarifying pardon procedures,
facilitating prison visits for executive, judiciary, and
human rights organizations, establishing regular
communication channels with prisoners and prison
administrators, ensuring female prisoners have equal access
to education, and ensuring that prisoners are informed of
their rights and that those rights are respected. An EHRC
official told PolOff that EHRC and the Parliamentary Legal
and Administrative Affairs Standing Committee plan to
establish a team to follow up on recommendations, but no
action has been taken to date. When asked whether EHRC
received any backlash as a result of publishing the critical
report, EHRC Deputy Director Demoze Mame said that while most
prison officials expressed a desire to improve prison
conditions, a few government officials criticized the report
for "tarnishing Ethiopia's reputation" since the government
cannot afford to implement the recommendations.


Comment
--------------


12. (C) Though EHRC is technically an independent body, it is
widely perceived as loyal to the ruling party and is rarely
critical of the government. EHRC's report appears to
corroborate other reports of serious human rights violations
occurring in Ethiopia's prisons. Particularly alarming is
the fact that 65 percent of detainees held in Ethiopia's
prisons and jails are eventually released due to lack of
evidence. Post will attempt to gain access to prisons and
jails to assess the conditions first-hand. Additionally,
Post will closely monitor whether any measures are taken to
improve prison conditions and to decrease the occurrence of
human rights violations.
YAMAMOTO