Torture and its Effect on Former Prisoners: the Case of the Federal Police Crime Investigation Bureau (Maekelawi)
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Date
2019-06
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Addis ababa University
Abstract
Prisoners torture in most part of the world is an on-going epidemic and Ethiopia is no exception to this. There are various studies and researches conducted on prisons of different countries with the objectives to; assess the prevalence of prisoner torture, identify the forms of torture used, study associated consequences and effect of torture. There are few researches done that exposes the truth about prisoner torture in Ethiopia, however; the researches fail to provide detailed information about the different effects of torture on prisoners. After carefully reviewing the available data and taking into consideration the critical nature of the topic, the researcher believes that the topic still requires an ongoing study. The purpose of this paper is therefore, to investigate the act of torture and its effect on former prisoners of Maekelawi. Because of the above-mentioned reasons and personal interest, the researcher has chosen this topic for her thesis. The researcher has employed qualitative method of research as well as descriptive types of phenomenology as a framework for the entire study. The study was conducted using five participants and they were selected based on their prison experience particularly The Federal Police Crime Investigation Bureau commonly known as Maekelawi. The sampling technique used to conduct this research is non-probability sampling specifically snow ball sampling because of difficulty locating the target population. In-depth Interview with semi-structured nature was employed and probing technique was also applied to obtain primary data. Data gathered from informants has been analysed thematically and divided in to five themes and presented accordingly in the findings of the study. The finding of the study indicates, the participants of the study have been victims of physical torture which includes beating, hanging, strapping etc. and psychological torture which ranges from intimidation to being victim of mock execution and they have been deprived of their humane condition which consists of deprivation of food and water, sleep deprivation, withholding of medical care etc. while they were in prison. The finding of the study also identified being tortured led the participants of the study to experience physical effects such as loss of hearing, musculoskeletal pains, scars and psychological effects which includes anxiety, depression, nightmares etc. The researcher was also able to pull out the social and emotional effects of torture and the current living condition of the participants of the study and incorporated it in the conclusion part of the paper. The study has finally recommended plausible solutions to various sectors, governmental and non-governmental organizations which work towards protecting the Human Right of prisoners and provide different services for torture survivors.
Key Terms: Torture, The Federal Police Crime Investigation Bureau (Maekelawi), prisoner
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Keywords
Torture, The Federal Police Crime Investigation Bureau (Maekelawi), prisoner