CONDITIONS IN HARGEISA CENTRAL PRISON
Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:46 pm
An Account from Sultan Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi (From Isaaq opposition)
African Rights — Hargeisa, Somaliland — 06 May, 2005
5 May 2005
Introduction
Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi was arrested in January and spent 16 days in Hargeisa central prison for no other reason than the peaceful expression of his political views. Sultan Raabi had advocated a clan gathering to discuss the country’s political future, first at a public gathering and subsequently in a press conference. He was detained although he was never tried or sentenced by a court of law. Government officials told the UN independent human rights expert for Somalia, Ghanim Alnajjar, who met with Raabi Yusuf in prison in February, that he “had been charged with inciting a rebellionâ€Â, but no charges were in fact ever brought, nor any explanations given.
An Account by Sultan Raabi
_______________________
Hargeisa central prison is a terrible, terrible place. I used to cry every night. And I hardly slept at all because I couldn’t believe that as a citizen, and as a person in a position of responsibility, I didn’t know all this was happening right in the midst of Hargeisa.
The prisoners were very welcoming. I was taken to a filthy room. The prison authorities asked me for money to connect the electricity in the room, and also money to pay the people who were going to clean the room. I told them that I had no money with me. One person, I’m not sure who he was, but he was not a prisoner, offered to advance the money and I said I would reimburse him. And the room was washed.
During the 16 days I spent there, the prisoners told me many horror stories and problems. But there are three things that are uppermost in my mind.
Lack of Medical Care
The first is the lack of medical care, which especially affects prisoners from regions outside of Hargeisa. Even when their families send them medication, they are not given the medicines. Nor do they get treatment. Some die as a result, from disease, compounded by malnutrition. Some die while still in chains.
During my time there, I never saw the prison doctor even though there were sick people in a nearby room. I asked the prison authorities to send some of them for medical care, but they refused. There was even someone who had been shot by the police and who was bleeding, but nothing was done to stop the bleeding. He had been wounded in Hargeisa. The police of course didn’t come to find out how he was doing.
Absence of Toilet Facilities
The second astonishing discovery for me is the fact that there are no toilet facilities. The prisoners have to dig pits in the very rooms where they sleep on sandy floors and then take out the waste in buckets. On the days when they are taking the waste, the stink is so terrible that no one has the appetite to eat anything. Even someone like me who had a private room had to use plastic bags because there are simply no toilets. Even the prison guards don’t have toilets.
Only five rooms have cement floors: the room I occupied, the one next door which was empty and a room reserved for the detainees accused of killing foreigners. So you can imagine the hygienic situation in the other rooms which don’t have cement floors and which are dug up as part toilets.
Overcrowded Store-Rooms as Holding Centres
But the very worse thing is the store-rooms which are used to house 96 prisoners to a room. These rooms, and I know of five, were not built to house detainees, but as they are, they can accommodate at most 30 per room. Instead, there are 96 men packed into a room, forced to sleep in one position as there is no space to turn. There are people in these rooms with TB, meningitis and HIV/AIDS, as well as prisoners who are mentally unstable. They receive no medical help and are living and sleeping with the others. Some go mad when they can no longer endure these inhumane conditions. Even if someone has diarrhoea, and it is not uncommon, they remain there. These prisoners are covered by lice and bedbugs.
These prisoners have the doors locked at 3:00 p.m. and remain locked up until 8:00 a.m. During that time, they get no water. Between 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., they are allowed outside twice, for half an hour each time. The rest of the time, until 3:00 p.m. they remain indoors although the doors are not locked.
The Detention of Children and Young Men
There were about 10 children in the prison, some aged about 12, others 13, 14 or 15. And it is in fact these juveniles who do the dirty work of cleaning out the buckets.
Youngsters aged 18-25 constitute a very large percentage of the male prison population.
Food
For breakfast, the prisoners are given a small bit of bread and black tea. For lunch they get a cupful of cooked maize and for supper, they get nothing. Even the prison guards are underfed.
The Lack of a Judicial Process
Many of the prisoners have been sent there without any kind of a judicial process. A large number of them are poor people from the areas to the west of Hargeisa, for example near the spot known as Makhayada Inanta and Allay Baday, a district where the land is now sought after by people with money. If they make a fuss about their land being taken, it is easy to get them imprisoned under the Emergency Decree which gives extraordinary powers to the mayor, the attorney-general, the Minister of the Interior, the governor, the head of the police and the head of the courts, to send people to prison directly without passing through any legal process. People are in prison after a phone conversation between various officials, and these officials also use the prison to detain people with whom they have private quarrels. I even remember a son imprisoned together with his mother and father.
Conclusion
Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi’s own experience underscores the problems inherent in the judicial system in Somaliland. Released two months ago, he is still waiting for an official explanation as to the reasons for his arrest, or an apology. On his release from prison, he learned that his brother had stood bail for him. When he and his brother went to the regional court to look into the issue of bail, and his detention, the judge sent them to the attorney-general, who told them to go and see the head of the police, who sent them back to the judge.
In the meantime, Sultan Raabi has decided to focus his energies on being an advocate for the men, women and children he left behind in prison, drawing attention to their plight, and to that of prisoners detained throughout Somaliland. African Rights and the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland urge the government and people of Somaliland, as well as international organizations concerned with justice issues present in Somaliland, to address the appalling prison conditions, including the wider implications for the police and the judiciary, and to help alleviate needless human suffering.
African Rights — Hargeisa, Somaliland — 06 May, 2005
5 May 2005
Introduction
Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi was arrested in January and spent 16 days in Hargeisa central prison for no other reason than the peaceful expression of his political views. Sultan Raabi had advocated a clan gathering to discuss the country’s political future, first at a public gathering and subsequently in a press conference. He was detained although he was never tried or sentenced by a court of law. Government officials told the UN independent human rights expert for Somalia, Ghanim Alnajjar, who met with Raabi Yusuf in prison in February, that he “had been charged with inciting a rebellionâ€Â, but no charges were in fact ever brought, nor any explanations given.
An Account by Sultan Raabi
_______________________
Hargeisa central prison is a terrible, terrible place. I used to cry every night. And I hardly slept at all because I couldn’t believe that as a citizen, and as a person in a position of responsibility, I didn’t know all this was happening right in the midst of Hargeisa.
The prisoners were very welcoming. I was taken to a filthy room. The prison authorities asked me for money to connect the electricity in the room, and also money to pay the people who were going to clean the room. I told them that I had no money with me. One person, I’m not sure who he was, but he was not a prisoner, offered to advance the money and I said I would reimburse him. And the room was washed.
During the 16 days I spent there, the prisoners told me many horror stories and problems. But there are three things that are uppermost in my mind.
Lack of Medical Care
The first is the lack of medical care, which especially affects prisoners from regions outside of Hargeisa. Even when their families send them medication, they are not given the medicines. Nor do they get treatment. Some die as a result, from disease, compounded by malnutrition. Some die while still in chains.
During my time there, I never saw the prison doctor even though there were sick people in a nearby room. I asked the prison authorities to send some of them for medical care, but they refused. There was even someone who had been shot by the police and who was bleeding, but nothing was done to stop the bleeding. He had been wounded in Hargeisa. The police of course didn’t come to find out how he was doing.
Absence of Toilet Facilities
The second astonishing discovery for me is the fact that there are no toilet facilities. The prisoners have to dig pits in the very rooms where they sleep on sandy floors and then take out the waste in buckets. On the days when they are taking the waste, the stink is so terrible that no one has the appetite to eat anything. Even someone like me who had a private room had to use plastic bags because there are simply no toilets. Even the prison guards don’t have toilets.
Only five rooms have cement floors: the room I occupied, the one next door which was empty and a room reserved for the detainees accused of killing foreigners. So you can imagine the hygienic situation in the other rooms which don’t have cement floors and which are dug up as part toilets.
Overcrowded Store-Rooms as Holding Centres
But the very worse thing is the store-rooms which are used to house 96 prisoners to a room. These rooms, and I know of five, were not built to house detainees, but as they are, they can accommodate at most 30 per room. Instead, there are 96 men packed into a room, forced to sleep in one position as there is no space to turn. There are people in these rooms with TB, meningitis and HIV/AIDS, as well as prisoners who are mentally unstable. They receive no medical help and are living and sleeping with the others. Some go mad when they can no longer endure these inhumane conditions. Even if someone has diarrhoea, and it is not uncommon, they remain there. These prisoners are covered by lice and bedbugs.
These prisoners have the doors locked at 3:00 p.m. and remain locked up until 8:00 a.m. During that time, they get no water. Between 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., they are allowed outside twice, for half an hour each time. The rest of the time, until 3:00 p.m. they remain indoors although the doors are not locked.
The Detention of Children and Young Men
There were about 10 children in the prison, some aged about 12, others 13, 14 or 15. And it is in fact these juveniles who do the dirty work of cleaning out the buckets.
Youngsters aged 18-25 constitute a very large percentage of the male prison population.
Food
For breakfast, the prisoners are given a small bit of bread and black tea. For lunch they get a cupful of cooked maize and for supper, they get nothing. Even the prison guards are underfed.
The Lack of a Judicial Process
Many of the prisoners have been sent there without any kind of a judicial process. A large number of them are poor people from the areas to the west of Hargeisa, for example near the spot known as Makhayada Inanta and Allay Baday, a district where the land is now sought after by people with money. If they make a fuss about their land being taken, it is easy to get them imprisoned under the Emergency Decree which gives extraordinary powers to the mayor, the attorney-general, the Minister of the Interior, the governor, the head of the police and the head of the courts, to send people to prison directly without passing through any legal process. People are in prison after a phone conversation between various officials, and these officials also use the prison to detain people with whom they have private quarrels. I even remember a son imprisoned together with his mother and father.
Conclusion
Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi’s own experience underscores the problems inherent in the judicial system in Somaliland. Released two months ago, he is still waiting for an official explanation as to the reasons for his arrest, or an apology. On his release from prison, he learned that his brother had stood bail for him. When he and his brother went to the regional court to look into the issue of bail, and his detention, the judge sent them to the attorney-general, who told them to go and see the head of the police, who sent them back to the judge.
In the meantime, Sultan Raabi has decided to focus his energies on being an advocate for the men, women and children he left behind in prison, drawing attention to their plight, and to that of prisoners detained throughout Somaliland. African Rights and the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland urge the government and people of Somaliland, as well as international organizations concerned with justice issues present in Somaliland, to address the appalling prison conditions, including the wider implications for the police and the judiciary, and to help alleviate needless human suffering.
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