Djibouti, a small country located in the Horn of Africa, has long been known for its strategic location at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East. However, behind its strategic significance lies a dark truth – the Djiboutian government’s routine use of secret prisons to silence opposition and suppress dissent.
Survivors of these secret prisons have spoken out about the horrific abuses they suffered at the hands of the regime. One such survivor is Ahmed, a young man who was arrested during a peaceful protest against the government’s decision to extend the president’s term limits.
“They took me to a secret prison where I was beaten and tortured for days,” Ahmed recounted.
“They would shock me with electricity, hang me from the ceiling, and force me to drink dirty water. I was in constant agony, but they wouldn’t stop until I signed a false confession.”
Ahmed’s story is not unique. Human rights organizations estimate that there are at least a dozen secret prisons scattered throughout the country, where thousands of individuals have been held without trial or due process.
Many of these prisoners are political dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists who dared to speak out against the regime.
“Despite repeated calls from the international community to end these abuses, the Djiboutian government has continued to act with impunity,” said seem to have no regard for the rule of law or basic human rights.”
The situation in Djibouti has only worsened in recent years, as the government has become increasingly authoritarian and repressive.
The country’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh has been in power since 1999 and is widely regarded as a dictator. Under his leadership, the government has cracked down on opposition parties, independent media, and civil society groups.
“The regime is terrified of anyone who speaks out against them,” said Hassan, a journalist who was arrested and held in a secret prison for several months. “They will stop at nothing to silence us, even if it means torturing and killing us.” Several survivors have come forward to describe the torture they experienced at the hands of Djibouti security forces.
The small East African country has long been criticized for its human rights abuses, but the survivors’ testimonies provide new and horrifying details of the torture they endured. One survivor, a 32-year-old man named Ahmed, said that he was taken into custody by security forces in 2022 and accused of belonging to a banned political group.
He said that he was blindfolded, beaten with sticks and electric cables, and subjected to prolonged periods of sleep deprivation. “They would come in at random times, maybe once every hour, and make me stand up and walk around in circles,” Ahmed said.
“Sometimes they would douse me with cold water to keep me awake. I couldn’t tell day from night, I lost track of time.”
Another survivor, a 27-year-old woman named Aisha, said that she was arrested in 2020 after attending a peaceful protest against the government. She said that she was stripped naked, beaten with batons, and forced to stand in stress positions for hours on end.
“They made me stand with my arms outstretched for hours, until I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore,” Aisha said. “They would hit me if I lowered my arms even slightly. It was unbearable.”
Human rights groups have long criticized Djibouti for its treatment of political dissidents and its disregard for due process. The government has also been accused of using torture to extract confessions from suspects.
“These survivors’ testimonies are deeply disturbing but sadly not surprising,” said Noor Gaad, an exiled Djiboutian human rights lawyer in France.
The survivors harrowing accounts also highlights the existence of a climate of fear in Djibouti, where individuals who speak out against the government or express dissenting views are at risk of being targeted for murder, detention, and torture.
One former detainee, who was held in a secret prison for several months, described the conditions as “inhumane.”
He said he was regularly beaten and subjected to electric shocks, and was forced to sign false confessions.
“The prison was pitch black, and the air was thick with the stench of human waste,” he said. “We were given little food or water, and were forced to sleep on the bare floor. It was like living in hell.”
Djibouti, which is strategically located on the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, has long been an important military and economic partner of the United States and other Western countries.
However, the U.S which portrays itself as a champion of human rights and freedom of expressed has subsequently dodged to criticize Djibouti for its poor human rights record and lack of political freedom, making its human rights campaigns towards other countries more selective and politically
motivated.
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