When Ethiopia announced last month that it would release political prisoners and close a controversial detention facility, many viewed it asย a promising signย that the Horn of Africa nation was shifting toward real democracy.
Since then, nearly 6,000 political prisoners and journalistsย have been released, according to Reuters. These included Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress and journalists Darsema Sori and Khalid Mohammed, who were both held onย anti-state charges. The attorney generalโs office said it would pardon 746 others, including the prominent journalist Eskinder Nega and opposition politician Andualem Arage.
Yet disturbing details continue to emerge over the conditions under which some of those jailed are being released. On Friday (Feb. 9), the Committee to Protect Journalists said Nega was asked toย sign a โfalse confessionโย stating that he was a member of Ginbot 7, an organization the government deems a terrorist group. After he refused, he was returned to his cell. CPJ also told Quartz that Nega was asked to sign the form a second time during the weekend.
Arage and opposition leader Abebe Kesto were also asked to signโbothย refused to endorseย the allegations against them, according to family members.
ย โThe government believes that signing a document saying he was a member will exculpate its behavior in jailing an innocent man.โย
The directive to sign pardon letters jeopardizes the steps taken to calm lingering tensions, observers say. Ethiopia has struggled for the last two years withย ongoing protestsย by the countryโs two largest communities, the Oromo and Amhara, which areย calling for an endย to decades ofย systemic exclusion. The government reacted to those protestsย with force,ย drawing criticismย from both the United Nations and its allies in the West. Facing mounting unrest, the government announced it would drop the cases against some of those arrested and on trial in a bid to foster reconciliation.
Angela Quintal, the Africa program director for CPJ, said the government looks like itโs still โtrying to justifyโ Eskinderโs unlawful detention and prosecution. โItโs as though the government believes that signing a document saying he was a member will exculpate its behavior in jailing an innocent man.โ
For those who have been pardoned, officials have also said they will be freed only after undergoing โrehabilitation training.โ That program has been under fire in the past, with the camps holding the accused described asย having conditionsย akin to those of theย Roots, the American saga about slavery.
Befeqadu Hailu, a member of the Zone 9 blogging collective,ย went through the programย for 33 days before he was released in late 2016. Many detainees, he said, lacked shoes, lived in squalid conditions, and suffered physical torture during interrogation. Inmates sat through indoctrination sessions where they were lectured on development, federalism, โEthiopian Renaissance,โ the importance of economic growth, and the failed attempts by โWesternโ agents to destabilize the country through protests.
The sessions, he said, were conducted by representatives including police officers, army commanders, and government officials. But whenever he and others tried to challenge some of the teachings, he added, โthey were rough and there was aggression.โ
Jeffrey Smith, the executive director of advocacy nonprofit Vanguard Africa, says that undertaking these actions against prisoners โwill only exacerbate the social and political fissures that are increasingly evident in the country.โ
