Ethiopia: Gov’t commission says Qilinto prison guards shot at inmates escaping fire

ESAT News (April 11, 2017)

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission says prison guards had opened fire at prisoners who were running away from the fire that gutted down a building at the Qilinto prison in August last year.

The Commissioner, Adisu Gebregziabher, told the Law and Justice Committee of the House of Peoples Representatives that prison administrators and security guards who shot at prisoners running away from the arson should be brought to justice.

The government has denied that prison guards fired shots at prisoners running away from fire, but instead says the guards fired at those who were trying to escape from prison.

The government says 23 inmates died in the arson but independent rights groups confirmed the death of at least 67 prisoners and examination of the bodies indicate that 45 of the prisoners died from gunshot wounds.

It is the first time that a government body admitted guards at the Qilinto prison fired at inmates but the commissioner stops short of saying the shootings were the cause of the death of inmates.

Political analysts say the report by the Commissioner was a whitewash and attempt to dodge responsibility for the death of prisoners and blame few guards for a heinous crime that  the regime could be held responsible.

Ethiopian regime prosecutors instead charged jailed political prisoners for the arson at the notorious Qilinto prison. The charge alleges that 38 prisoners were responsible for the death of 23 inmates in the fire.

The human rights commission is widely criticized for overlooking human rights abuses and justifying for gross rights violations perpetrated by the regime. Dr. Gebregziabher was previously head of the electoral commission accused of conducting stage-managed and undemocratic elections that ensured total domination for the ruling TPLF-led party.