Ethiopian police torture political detainees: Human Rights Watch

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopian police investigators in Addis Ababa’s main detention center have tortured political detainees and regularly mistreat people in custody to extract confessions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Friday.
The Ethiopian government, long seen by the West as a bulwark against militant Islam in the Horn of Africa, has denied frequent accusations that it uses state institutions to stifle dissent and silence political opposition.
In a report about conditions inside Addis Ababa’s Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector, known as Maekelawi, HRW said many former detainees were slapped, kicked and beaten with sticks and gun butts during investigations.
“Human Rights Watch found that investigators used coercive methods, including beatings and threats of violence, to compel detainees to sign statements and confessions,” the group said in a statement, referring to events over the past three years.
Ethiopia intensified its clampdown on peaceful dissent after the disputed 2005 election, the New York-based HRW said.
The Addis Ababa government said it would not comment on the allegations until it has seen the full 70-page report.
Human Rights Watch said scores of opposition politicians, journalists, protest organizers and alleged supporters of ethnic insurgencies have been detained in Maekelawi.
Interviews with more than 35 former detainees and their relatives formed the basis of the report, HRW said.
Some Muslims have complained the government has interfered with religious affairs as it tries to stop what officials say is a rise in Islamist ideology. Ethiopia has a Christian majority but about a third of its population is Muslim.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn last week dismissed the criticism during an interview with Reuters.
“The government has nothing to do with religion. “The only thing we say is there is a red line for any religion in the country which goes beyond the constitutional provision.”

Police Abuse Journalists, Opponents to Extract Confessions – Human Rights Watch

Ethiopia: Political Detainees Tortured
“They Want a Confession” Torture and Ill-Treatment in Ethiopia’s Maekelawi Police Station
- Full report in English – Summary and recommendations in Amharic – Press release in Afan Oromo
(Nairobi) – Ethiopian authorities have subjected political detainees to torture and other ill-treatment at the main detention center in Addis Ababa. 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 70-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.

Aerial view of “Maekelawi” compound, the main federal police investigation center, in Central Addis Ababa, on February 18, 2013.
“Ethiopian authorities right in the heart of the capital regularly use abuse to gather information,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director. “Beatings, torture, and coerced confessions are no way to deal with journalists or the political opposition.”
Since the disputed elections of 2005, Ethiopia has intensified its clampdown on peaceful dissent. Arbitrary arrest and political prosecutions, including under the country’s restrictive anti-terrorism law, have frequently been used against perceived opponents of the government who have been detained and interrogated at Maekelawi.
Maekelawi officials, primarily police investigators, have used various methods of torture and ill-treatment against those in their custody. Former detainees described to Human Rights Watch being slapped, kicked, and beaten with various objects, including sticks and gun butts, primarily during interrogations. Detainees also described being held in painful stress positions for hours upon end, hung from the wall by their wrists, often while being beaten.