“The judiciary and the prison system willfully work as one to implement the will of the Prime Minister and his office”, he said adding that pressure of the Ethiopian people locally and in the diaspora and international pressure through various organizations was instrumental for his release–not the highly politicized institution masquerading as the justice system of the country. In response to a question asking his views on the justice process, Dr. Taye stated that the rights of the prisoners are considered nonexistent and trampled upon by the justice system itself while the prisoners themselves are often subjected to humiliating ridicule and are treated as sub-humans by the judges. Basic rights such as access to medical treatment are used as tools of subjection and torture by the prison authorities through restriction or outright denial of access. A number of prisoners have died as a direct result of this practice [example cited, Ato Kebede] and many more are suffering with no relief in sight as the judges to which appeals of cases such as these are brought to mostly take no action whatsoever–thus, in effect, supporting the barbaric act of the prisons system.

“The justice and prisons systems”, he said, “work in harmony and follow orders [of the government]…they are thus, for all intents and purposes, institutions which the government uses as vehicles to carry out its commands and as such, no one should expect justice from the system as it is now”. Following on the personal ordeal and suffering he went through, he described how, on many occasions during his incarceration, the head of the prisons subjected him to psychological torture stating forcefully that he “will never be released”, how they tried to destroy his mind through solitary confinement, how he was denied access to medical treatment (he waited four years in great pain to see a dentist) and even occasions where the prison staff sadistically refused to accept food from relatives during holidays (and thus provoked fear among his relatives that something must have happened to him). [This last act is a particularly cruel form of torture that many Ethiopians would especially understand]. He described how the presiding judge during his trial, (Ato Hagos, President of the High Court, no less!), used shameful and profane language (“atlefaaded”) to deny his appeal with respect to medical treatment and how he was subjected to further punishment of permanent chains by this same judge for protesting.

Dr. Taye concluded his statement by thanking all who supported him by vigorously protesting his illegal imprisonment. “If it were not for these protests and concern, they [the government] would have eliminated me long ago as is the case for many others”, he said, “What really is happening in the justice system has to come out in the open if justice is to begin serving citizens” [instead of serving the morally corrupt “government” in place].

We salute this courageous Ethiopian and support the cause he has taken up. Five sound files of excerpts from his interview are being availed for the convenience of our readers. However, we encourage everyone to listen to the whole interview by following the link provided.

These files are best heard one after the other using either the Windows media player or Winamp audio player (recommended) available for free download.

To download the following excerpt files, right click on link and select 'Save Target As...' (IE users); 'Save Link As...' (Netscape users), to your directory (folder) of choice.