Juvenile Justice System and the Prison System in Ethiopia and Venezuela

Ethiopia has a harsh prison system where they beat and torture their prisoners. According to the Association of Human Rights in Ethiopia, there have been many testimonies of torture and other inhuman and illegal treatments of prisoners in many undisclosed areas. Belayneh Alemneh, a 29-year-old resident of Amhara Regional State, has claimed that he was forced to spend his night on the floor without food. The next day, he was severely and consistently beaten for two consecutive days. They demanded that he falsely testify against Engineer Yilkal Getnet and Abebe Akalu, leaders of the Semayawi Party (a legally registered political party), alleging that they were linked with Ginbot 7.

Once he was moved to another prison, he stated that the beatings worsened. He reported being hit with sticks and electrical wires. In the middle of the day, he would be summoned for interrogation, missing lunch. Other times, he was called around 9 p.m. and beaten until midnight, to the point where he was so weak that he couldn’t move on his own for three days. Another prisoner stated that he began suffering from diabetes, cholesterol, hemorrhoids, and kidney failure following his arrest. He believes that these severe health problems were due to the abuse and maltreatment he endured in prison. He stated that the officials concealed his medical records to deny early release. The father of the late Armaye Wako claimed that his son was beaten to death while in prison. His father stated, “When I went to visit him, his hands and face were swollen; he told me they were beating him.” When he went to visit his son, he was told that he was in the hospital for a stomach ache, but mere hours later, the family was informed that their son had passed away. Upon arrival at the hospital and inspection of the body, they noticed that his head was crushed and that his stomach was sliced open and stitched back, as if someone had removed his organs. Undoubtedly, Ethiopia’s prison system was far from friendly.

Venezuela’s prison system is not any better. In eastern Caracas, the Chacao district has cells made for 36 inmates who are supposed to stay for a maximum of three days until being released or transferred to a larger prison facility. However, the crisis in the Venezuelan judicial system forces those cells to instead hold over 150 prisoners, some of who have been there for months or years. Many prisoners develop red, lumpy rashes on their skin, which could be a sign of contagious scabies. Due to the medical crisis, most of the prisoners cannot receive treatments for these illnesses. They are also only allowed access to water for an hour once every day. Daniel Sayago, a 24-year-old prisoner, stated, “In these conditions, your mind deteriorates. You have to shut down parts of it to survive.” Daniel has been locked up for a year and four months, and his condition has continually worsened. The prison system in Venezuela was never very pleasing, but lately, the setting has become a lot worse due to a violent crime wave overwhelming the judicial system. The devastating number of murders and killings have caused larger facilities with a capacity of 20,000 to hold 52,000 inmates. Inside the cell, designed for 5,000 prisoners, is a population of 20,000 inmates. Ramon Muchacho, the mayor of Chacao, says that he wants to move the prisoners out of the lockup and into larger facilities, but the prison authorities won’t allow it.

According to an article on hrw.org, for many years now police officials and security forces has been tortured prisoners for years at a prison called Jail Ogaden in Ethiopia.. In the report, “https://www.hrw.org/node/319795 “ it is stated that the prisoners are being brutalized and neglected. It has been described as a horrific reality of constant abuse and torture by former prisoners. Prisoners would be stripped down naked to get beat then forced to perform humiliating acts in front of the entire prison to install fear and shame. Kabbas, also known as prison guards beat and harassed prisoners during night interrogations then pass them along to prison leaders who would then chose a further punishment. The reason for all the torture was to get them to confess to membership in the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a banned opposition group. There was an interview held of 100 interviewees with 70 of them being former prisoners who would say that they saw prisoners dying in their cells. Then the female former prisoners told all about the rape. Females had to give birth in their cells without any skilled birth attendants. Lactating mothers were not allowed any extra food. The children that had to grow up in the facilities and prison system did not receive any form of education.

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