HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
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Ethiopia: Political Detainees Tortured
Embargoed for Release
Not for Publication Until:
03:01 in Nairobi, Friday, October 18, 2013
00:01 GMT, October 18, 2013
(Nairobi, October 18, 2013) – Ethiopian authorities have subjected political detainees to torture and other ill-treatment at the main detention center in Addis Ababa, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Ethiopian government should take urgent steps to curb illegal practices in the Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector, known as Maekelawi, impartially investigate allegations of abuse, and hold those responsible to account.
The 74-page report, “‘They Want a Confession’: Torture and Ill-Treatment in Ethiopia’s Maekelawi Police Station,” documents serious human rights abuses, unlawful interrogation tactics, and poor detention conditions in Maekelawi since 2010. Those detained in Maekelawi include scores of opposition politicians, journalists, protest organizers, and alleged supporters of ethnic insurgencies. Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 35 former Maekelawi detainees and their relatives who described how officials had denied their basic needs, tortured, and otherwise mistreated them to extract information and confessions, and refused them access to legal counsel and their relatives.
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