Reliable reports sent to SOCEPP reveal that the secret prisons in the town of METEMA and SHEHDI in Gondar region (near the Ethio-Sudanese border) are teeming with prisoners and deaths from torture and malady are reportedly common.

       These prisons are referred to by their Tigrigna name ZEREBA GIDEF (literally shut up or Stop Talking) and they hold mainly peasants of the area suspected of supporting anti-government guerrillas. The secret prison at METEMA is situated near the Metema –Gondar road block, and from the prison one can see to the right the army camp on the hill and the air landing strip. On the left also, behind the town, there is another army camp on a hill . The prison is situated on the same hill and the area is surrounded by boulders and stones giving it the look of a fort.

       The prison at SHEHDI is also a secret one. It lies on the northern part of SHEHDI town which faces towards the Sudan while there is a hill facing towards the interior. The road to Gondar passes nearby. As one looks to the left from the town of Shehdi, the prison lies on a low ground. The hill is closer to Shehdi town while the secret prison is on the far side of the hill.

     These heavily-guarded secret prisons are virtual hell holes with prisoners being kept in inhuman conditions, torture wounds left to fester, prisoners often denied the chance to relieve themselves properly. Brutal guards beat prisoners at will and SOCEPP has been informed of the presence, in the Shehdi prison, of underage detainees who have been jailed because their brothers or fathers had reportedly join.

SOCEPP

Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere!