Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has fired five top prison bosses accused of human rights violations and other misconduct.
Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye announced on state TV that Mr Abiy had replaced them as they had failed in their duty.
He said the needs of prisoners had not been adequately met and their human rights had not been respected:
Prisoners are our citizens. They are in prison because they committed crimes. If it is not possible to ensure these citizens are not corrected and transformed into law-abiding citizens when they leave prison, it means that the supremacy of law has not been ensured. That means lawlessness is getting worse.
There are widespread problems of human rights violation. The base for human rights is our constitution… Prisoner’s human rights should be respected.’’
The attorney general also made it clear that those who have been fired would face an investigation.
The Ethiopian government has released tens of thousands of prisoners since Mr Abiy took office in April.ource: BBC
