By Karamarda Group

 “There can be no free society without law administered through an independent judiciary. If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law, every man can. That means first chaos, then tyranny”
                                                          U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, (1947).

Political Transparency and good governance promotes justice, participation, pluralism, accountability and the rule of law, in a way that is effective, efficient and lasting. By putting these principles into practice, we see the holding of free, fair and frequent elections, representative legislatures that make laws and provide oversight, and an independent judiciary to interpret those laws.

Any nation’s governance is considered “good” and “democratic” to the degree in which a country’s institutions and processes are transparent. Its institutions refer to such bodies as parliament, judicial system, press and its various ministries are free of corruption and accountable to the people.  A country’s success in achieving this standard has become a key measure of its credibility and respect in the world.

The Somali Region’s citizens have been subjected to brutal treatment in the name of fighting ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front). According to the human rights group report, dating September 2012, there were 70,000-80,000 prisoners in Ethiopia. Approximately, 20, 000 of these prisoners are believed to be held in the Somali Region. A significant numbers of these prisoners are children incarcerated with their mothers.

This article will try to explore the peculiar judicial system in the Somali Region and the subsequent sub human treatment of prisoners in Jail Ogden.

Thousands of innocent citizens are arbitrarily detained and arrested every day in the Ethiopian controlled former Somali Republic and the Somali Region. These prisoners are kept in undisclosed ordinary houses rented by the regional administration in various towns, in military bases such as Garabcase, Ayar Hail and other local military centers and various prison cells in local districts and in the notorious Jail Ogaden in Jigjiga.

Read more: Jail Ogaden and the flowed judicial system

By Ali Abdi
The Karamarda Executive Committee
Email:karamardagroup@gmail.com
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The Karamarda Group is a group of Somali Regional State citizens who are interested in promoting Democracy and Good Governance in the Somali Region of Ethiopia