Nineteen prisoners were released from Awash Arba military camp on Saturday. The prisoner release came at a time when Ethiopia has formally launched national dialogue.
The released prisoners include members of political parties, activists, journalists etc. Authorities say that they were released after receiving “reformation training”. 20 other prisoners were transferred from Awash Arba to the detention center of the Federal Police Criminal Investigation Office in Addis Ababa.
The released prisoners were mainly arrested in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. Last year, Ethiopian government announced state of emergency to launch a military operation against Amhara Fano militia members in the Amhara region. The state of emergency was extended for four months in February. Under the state of emergency proclamation, hundreds of people including political workers, activists, journalists etc were detained by security forces.
Some of the these prisoners were transferred from Amhara region to a prison camp in Afar region. In a statement issued by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (ESMECO) at the end of last August, it announced that the number of prisoners taken from different places in Addis Ababa and Amhara region to an informal detention center in the Awash Arba military camp was 53.
Last week Human Rights Commission of Ethiopia reported that former members of Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (Ezema), teacher Nathaniel Mekon, journalist Bai Manaye and journalist Abnet Tamrat were in prison in Awash Arba. However, after the release of the statement, Teacher Nathaniel and Journalist Abnet were released from prison.
This week, Ethiopia formally launched controversial national dialogue which is being boycotted by main political and armed players. The National Dialogue Commissioner say they are considering how to make prisoners part of the national dialogue.
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