Two global rights groups on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the treatment of several Ethiopian prisoners detained for months since violent protests over disputed elections last year.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and London-based Amnesty International decried the conditions in which three detainees — two journalists and an elderly, ailing human rights advocate — are being held.
In separate statements, the groups urged Ethiopian authorities to either free the trio or take immediate action to remedy what they said are gross violations of minimum international standards for incarceration.
The CPJ said opposition journalists Eskinder Nega and Sisay Agena have been ”suffering from harsh treatment and deprivation without judicial review” since their arrests in November.
The pair are among a number of journalists and opposition figures who have been accused of plotting to overthrow the government after the May 2005 polls, but have been separated from co-detainees, it said.
”They are … kept with two other prisoners in a small, unsanitary cell and allowed only limited bathroom breaks,” CPJ said. ”The two may be deprived of light and adequate drinking water.”
It appealed to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi ”to ensure that the prison conditions of Eskinder Nega and Sisay Agena, as well as all the other imprisoned journalists, comply with basic international norms”.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International called for the immediate release of 76-year-old Mesfin Woldemariam, the former head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council and another detainee, who it said collapsed in prison on August 18.
It said Mesfin, who it has labelled a ”prisoner of conscience”, is suffering from pneumonia, a ”serious and potentially life-threatening” condition it said was worsened by poor prison facilities.
Amnesty called on Addis Ababa to ”respect regional and international standards for the treatment of prisoners”. The three detainees are among a group of more than 100 people, including nearly the entire leadership of Ethiopia’s main opposition party, who have been charged with plotting a coup.
They were arrested early last November when the government moved against those it suspected of being behind election protests that turned violent and left at least 84 people dead, many of whom were shot by police.
Their trial began in February but has since been adjourned to mid-October. — Sapa-AFP