Prisoners subjected to 'nonstop routine of abuse' at notorious Ethiopia jail, HRW says

Suspected members of a separatist group in Ethiopia's Somali region are being tortured, raped and starved at a secret prison, Human Rights Watch alleged on Thursday.

The New York-based watchdog called for an investigation by the Ethiopian government into the allegations concerning suspected members of the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) at the "notorious" regional prison known as Jail Ogaden.

Its report, titled We Are Like The Dead, describes a brutal and relentless pattern of abuse, torture, rape, and humiliation, with little access to medical care, family, lawyers, or even at times to food. 

Rights groups have often accused Ethiopian security forces of abuse, particularly against rebel groups that have targeted the one-party rule of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Since taking office in April, Ethiopia's first Muslim Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has sought to end these insurgencies and address rights violations.

Last month, he publicly acknowledged torture carried out by security services, describing it as a form of "terrorism".

He has also backed legislation to decriminalise armed groups such as the ONLF. Most prisoners are accused of some affiliation with the ONLF, but most never face charges or trials, HRW said.

Detainees said they were stripped naked and beaten in front of the entire prison population and made to carry out humiliating acts in front of fellow inmates to instil fear.

HRW interviewed security force members, government officials, and 70 former detainees, who said abuses occurred at Jail Ogaden between 2011 and this year.

Detainees said they were stripped naked and beaten in front of the entire prison population and made to carry out humiliating acts in front of fellow inmates to instil fear.

The overcrowding, torture, starvation and disease outbreaks, inadequate food, and water and lack of health care and sanitation led to deaths in detention.

Many children are born in Jail Ogaden, including some allegedly conceived through rape by prison guards. Female prisoners described giving birth inside their cells, in many cases without health care or even water.

HRW said the government must establish a commission to investigate the allegations and hold those responsible to account.

"The scale of torture and abuse in Jail Ogaden cannot be overstated," said researcher Felix Horne. "Abiy should continue to publicly condemn torture and take action on Jail Ogaden to show he is serious about stopping torture and ending impunity."

Somali region is Ethiopia's second-largest, bordering, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia, and is one of the country's most volatile areas.

Intense ethnic clashes, beginning last year along the shared border between Somali and neighbouring Oromia region, have so far displaced over a million people and killed hundreds.

Rights groups blame the regional security force, called the Liyu police, for being behind the worst abuses as well as instigating ethnic fighting, with the approval of the regional government.