Ethiopia ‘tortures’ inmates says HRW

{{Ethiopian authorities are torturing and mistreating political detainees to extract confessions, Human Rights Watch says.}}

The US-based group says former prisoners at the main detention centre in Addis Ababa described being beaten and kicked during interrogation.

It accuses Ethiopia of using anti-terrorism laws to stifle dissent.

The government has dismissed the report as biased and lacking credible evidence, according to media.

The report by HRW says police investigators at Maekelawi prison use illegal interrogation methods, keep inmates in poor detention conditions, and routinely deny them access to a lawyer.

Former detainees reported “being held in painful stress positions for hours upon end, hung from the wall by their wrists, often while being beaten”, it said.

{{‘Culture of impunity’}}

“Ethiopian authorities right in the heart of the capital regularly use abuse to gather information,” said Leslie Lefkow, HRW’s deputy Africa director.

“Beatings, torture, and coerced confessions are no way to deal with journalists or the political opposition.”

{Protests earlier this year called for the release of political prisoners}
{wirestory}