JIGJIGA (Halbeeg)- Ethiopian Somali region released the region’s former deputy, Abdullahi Yussuf leader and dozens of other political prisoners from prison on Wednesday and dropped all charges against them.
President of Ethiopia’s Somali regional state has reportedly ordered the release of all political prisoners held in the region’s notorious jail facility.
Speaking to VOA Somali, the region’s Information Minister, Idris Ismail Abdi said 109 detainees including opponents and former security officials were released.
“In celebration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s first 100 days in office, We decided to released the prisoners, Now we have so far released 109 and We will also free 98% of the inmates who part of those committed murder or rape cases,” said the Minister.
The current move comes on the back of a scathing report on Jail Ogaden released by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The group called on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to probe widespread rights abuses routinely carried out on inmates.
The 88-page report asserted that “Prison officials and security forces have arbitrarily detained and tortured prisoners for years in the notorious regional prison known as Jail Ogaden.
Ethiopia’s federal government has released thousands of political prisoners since the beginning of the year as part of reforms to open up the democratic space and revert to constitutionalism in the country.
Regional administrations especially Oromia, Amhara and Tigray, have all released political prisoners as part of the process of increasing political inclusion.
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