Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State Denies Torture Claims

Ethiopia’s Somali regional government has forcefully denied allegations of systemic torture at Jijiga Central Prison, setting the stage for a potential showdown with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The denial comes on the heels of an in-depth report from Human Rights Watch documenting the scope of torture at Jijiga, also known as Jail Ogaden, in the Somali regional capital.

“I have seen the report. It’s not true; it’s not based on facts,” Idris Ismail Abdi, the information minister for the Somali Region, told VOA’s Somali Service this week. “It’s not like they [HRW] came here and spoke to people. This is far from the truth, and it’s fabricated,” Abdi said.

The HRW report, based on interviews with 70 former prisoners, along with government officials, paints one of the most detailed pictures to date of the pervasive, and often depraved, use of torture in Ethiopian prisons.

Hours before HRW published its findings, Ethiopia’s attorney general, Berhanu Tsegaye, announced that prison heads in the country had been fired “for failing to discharge their responsibilities and respect prisoners’ human rights,” according to state-owned broadcaster  Television.

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