Situations of detention places in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has recently made public its findings on the situation of detention places in Ethiopia. In more than 35 detention places (both of federal and regional ones) it monitored, the teams of the Commission had visited each premise of the detention places, observed  in terms of the international Minimum Standards, the provisions of food, water, health, sleeping rooms and beddings, entertaining services, administrative practices, regulations of visiting hours by families, legal and religious counselors and chatting rooms,  and many more other rights of detainees as enshrined by the FDRE Constitution and on the treatment of prisoners.

The Teams had also talked with the detainees on their prison conditions and with the prison officials about the speedy trials and remands, addressing congested sleeping rooms, segregations of detainees according to their sex and nature of convictions as well as about equal training and other opportunities for female detainees and those convicted with their children. As a result some of the inconveniencies especially those administrative practices that run against the rights of prisoners were then and there effectively addressed. Much as the teams had witnessed good practices in some of the detention places, it had also observed that almost all of them had been suffering from the provisions of one or another basic necessities including food provisions. 

The report of the finding includes recommendations on further ameliorations of the situation of detention places and the specific roles which governmental and non-governmental organizations including the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission could possibly play to the effect of the latter.

See full text of the Amharic Version of the report