A Critical Assessment of Prisoners' Right in the Oromia National Regional State: The Case of Burayu Prison Administration
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Date
2014-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The paper strongly emphasizes on the critical assessment of prisoners ' rights in Oroll1ia
National Regional State particularly the prisoners' rights of Burayu Prison Administration.
Accordingly, the aim of this research is to assess the handling and the treatments of prisoners '
rights according to International Prisoners ' Rights that provided under the FDRE and ONRS
Constitutions. Thus, in order to identify the problems concerning the protections of prisoners'
right in the Burayu Prison Administration, deep interviews were conducted with prisoners and
with top officials of different prison institutions both at Federal and Oromya Region. In doing so,
the paper indentified the problems concerning the protection of prisoners ' rights to food and
water, ji'ee medical services, the right to sanitations, the right to accommodation, the right to
bedding and clothing, the right to contact with families, legal and religious counselors, the right
to classification in terms of their sex, age, types of the crime committed and seriousness of the
crime for which imprisoned. The study, additionally, examine the role of Federal Prison
Commission for the protections of prisoners in the country. Hence, the research discovered that,
there are poor handling and ill-treatments of prisoners in the Burayu Prison Administration. And
also, both Burayu Prison Administration and the Oromia Prison Commission are not in a
position to effectively work concerning the treatments of prisoners. Further, the existing
proclamation and regulation regarding to the treatments of prisoners could not properly
protect the rights of prisoners because both the proclamation and regulation not clearly provide
the rights of prisoners as provided in other international Human ·Rights that directly related wirh
protection of prisoners.
Based on the jindings, the researcher proposed the amendments of the existing regulations for
the protections o.f prisoners ' rights and the need of a counliy-wide minimum standards and rules
that govern evelY prisons institution of the countlY.
Key words: prisoners' rights, prison administration, prison institution, international human
rights principle, Burayu Prison Administration, Oromia Prison Commission, Federal Prison
Commission, minimum standard rules, prison treatments and handling of prisoners.
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Keywords
prisoners' rights, prison administration, prison institution, international human rights principle, Burayu Prison Administration, Oromia Prison Commission, Federal Prison Commission