Five inmates killed in Ethiopia’s prison fire

December 22, 2012 (ADDIS ABAAB) – A fire that broke out in one of Ethiopia’s crowded detention centres has led to death of at least five inmates.
 
According to police, the fire broke out at around midnight on Friday at a prison in the Eastern Gojam Zone of the Amhara state in northern Ethiopia.
 
Police said that the victims were not burned but died in a stampede while a crowd of prisoners were rushing to escape the blaze.
 
It is not clear how the fire was triggered but officials are investigating the incident, the results of which will be made public.
 
Prison guards temporarily evacuated the inmates.
 
Firemen managed to put out the blaze with the help of nearby residents and the prisoners themselves, police said.
 
Ethiopia has some 123 officially recognised correctional facilities across nation although right groups say there are many unofficial prisons.
 
The number of prisoners has dropped during the past few years following the government’s issuing of pardons, including the release of at least 10,000 inmates including two Swedish journalists last September in connection with the Ethiopian new year of 2005.

Prison conditions remain a major concern.

The Human Rights Watch 2012 report claimed that hundreds of Ethiopians, mostly political opposition members and dissents were arbitrarily arrested and detained in 2011 and remain at risk of torture and ill-treatment.

Addis Ababa denies these allegations and the suggestion that they have been using the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to arrest opposition politicians and critical journalists.

(ST)