Somalia closes notorious prison amid abuse allegations


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Somalia has closed an underground prison where the government has held extremist suspects and journalists amid allegations of abuses against inmates, the security minister said Sunday.

Ahmed Abukar said that Godka Jilaow prison, which held hundreds of prisoners including suspected al-Shabab fighters, would be turned into a technical school. Prisoners would be transferred elsewhere, he said.

The prison, which was run by Somalia's intelligence agency, has been closed as part of efforts to improve the country's human rights record, he said.

There were many allegations that prisoners were tortured in the underground cells, according to human rights groups. The prison was used by dictator Siad Barre to jail his critics before he was deposed in 1991.

Many suspects have been held in the prison for years without charges, while others faced military trials, according to rights activists.

Military courts in Somalia continue to try a broad range of cases, including terrorism-related offenses, in proceedings that are far short of international standards for fair trials, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

At least 23 individuals were executed in 2017 following military court convictions, the majority on terrorism-related charges, the group said.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent World stories

Related topics

World
Abdi Guled

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast