The
Ethiopian authorities must allow an opposition politician who is now
unconscious due to injuries sustained in torture and other ill-treatment to
obtain life-saving medical treatment abroad, said Amnesty International in a
letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
Habtamu
Ayalew, the former spokesman for the opposition Andenet (Unity) party was
arrested on July 8, 2014 and charged with terrorism for allegedly collaborating
with the opposition Ginbot 7, which the Ethiopian government has designated a
terrorist group. He was detained at the notorious Maekelawi and Qilinto
Prisons, where he was subjected to torture and other ill treatment through
denial of access to toilet facilities, a situation that led to him to develop
excruciatingly painful hemorrhoids.
“Habtamu
has been prevented from leaving the country because the prosecutor has appealed
the High Court’s decision that released him from prison. The appeal is
currently pending before the Supreme Court,” said Haben Fecadu, Amnesty
International’s Campaigner for the Horn of Africa.
“He
must be urgently let out of the country on humanitarian grounds, if for nothing
else, if his life is to be saved.”
Although
easily treatable in the early stages, Ayalew’s hemorrhoids were left to
deteriorate to Stage-3 which requires surgery, after his jailers repeatedly
denied him access to medical treatment.
“The
authorities should promptly and impartially investigate the detention
conditions that caused Habtamu’s health to deteriorate so much. They must also
prosecute anyone reasonably suspected of personal responsibility for this and
related offences, including torture or other acts of ill-treatment, in fair
trials,” said Fecadu.
Although
the High Court acquitted Habtamu and other defendants of the terrorism Charges
on September 20, 2015, he was not released until five months later, by which
time his condition had deteriorated further.
www.amnestyusa.org
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