Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Djibouti.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Djibouti. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper
resources that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Djibouti U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/djjibouti/
[accessed 16 July
2021] PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS There were numerous
reported abuses similar to the following examples. On April 22, air force
Lieutenant Fouad Youssouf Ali circulated videos on
social media critical of the government and fled the country in a military
plane, which he then crashed. He was extradited back to the country from
Ethiopia and held in detention at Gabode Prison
under charges of treason and theft of a military airplane. His lawyer
received access to him on May 13, weeks after his arrest. His lawyer stated
that his client was in poor health and detained in filthy and inhuman cell
conditions. On June 3, Lieutenant Fouad released a video of his detention
conditions, showing a dirty, windowless isolation cell, largely taken up by a
latrine, and revealed a severe skin condition resulting from prison
conditions. His descriptions of degrading and inhuman treatment led to social
unrest when the video went viral on social media. It triggered protests and
confrontations between protesters and law enforcement, resulting in civilian
arrests and injuries. Many of those arrested complained of torture and
detention in filthy conditions. ARREST PROCEDURES
AND TREATMENT OF DETAINEES On July 15, Charmake Said Darar, a
journalist from the Voice of Djibouti, one of the country’s only independent streaming
platforms, was arrested after covering the case of Lieutenant Fouad and
taking pictures of demonstrations in Djibouti City. On his first night in
custody, he was handcuffed for several hours with his hands behind his back.
He did not eat for four days, either as a protest against his detention or
due to fear of being poisoned. Darar’s house was
searched, his family complained of being intimidated and harassed, and his
personal and work equipment including his identification documents were
taken. On August 4, Darar was released without
being charged, but some of his belongings remained in the custody of law
enforcement. Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/djibouti/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 12 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE
USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? Security forces regularly
engage in physical abuse and torture during arrest and detention. In March
2017, cartoonist Idriss Hassan Mohamed was
arbitrarily detained for several days and reportedly suffered a broken leg
due to abuse in custody after he posted criticism of the government on
Facebook. Radio journalist
threatened and tortured for 24 hours Reporters Without
Borders en.rsf.org/djibouti-radio-journalist-threatened-and-03-02-2012,41800.html [accessed 21 Jan
2014] “I was in Djibouti
City yesterday waiting for a meeting. It was 11:30 am. Two men in a car with
tinted windows stopped next to me. It was a uniformed policeman and a man in
plain clothes. They asked me to get in. I refused but they forced me into the
car. They blindfolded me so that I did not know where they were taking me. I
found myself in a cell. They removed my clothes and handcuffed me, and that
is how I spent the night, sleeping on the floor. “They beat my feet
very violently with pieces of rubber. They also broke my glasses. ‘We’ve had
enough of you,’ they said. ‘You must stop broadcasting information about us.
You must stop bothering the police and the Department for Investigation and
Documentation. It will be the worse for you if you continue.’ At midday
today, they brought me my clothes and blindfolded me again. Then they drove
me to a piece of waste ground in the Gabode 4
district and left me there.” Reporters Without
Borders has decided to refer this matter to the United Nations special rapporteur
on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and
will remain in regular contact with Hildid in order
to be kept informed of his security situation. Repeated arrests
used to hound independent journalists Reporters Without
Borders en.rsf.org/djibouti-repeated-arrests-used-to-hound-18-12-2013,45644.html [accessed 21 Jan
2014] Houssein was re-arrested
yesterday as he was going to Hodan police station,
where he had previously been held, to recover personal effects. He is now
being held at Nagad detention centre,
where he has reportedly been tortured and is now on hunger strike. Houssein was previously
arrested together with Sahal Elmi
Talan, a young reporter, as they were covering the eviction of street vendors
by police from Djibouti City’s central market on 14 December. They were
released two days later. While detained, Houssein was hit with force on the ear by the police director-general,
Col. Abdillahi Aldi Fara,
in person. A medical certificate confirms that the blow ruptured his eardrum.
Houssein had also been arrested and roughed up on 4
December. Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture U.N. Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment -- Doc. CAT/C/DJI/CO/1
(2011) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/djibouti2011.html [accessed 27
February 2013] Acts of torture 9. The Committee
notes with concern the State party’s acknowledgement that abuses, notably
acts of torture, have been committed by police officers in Djibouti in the
performance of their duties. The Committee is particularly concerned about
the fact that there has been no serious investigation of these cases, which
has contributed to a situation in which such offences go unpunished (arts. 2
and 12). The Committee invites
the State party to take immediate and specific measures to investigate and,
when appropriate, to prosecute and punish acts of torture. Moreover, the
Committee invites the State party to: ensure that law enforcement personnel
do not resort to torture under any circumstances; publicly and unambiguously
reaffirm the absolute prohibition of torture; condemn the practice of
torture, especially by the police and prison officers; and make it clear that
anyone who commits, is complicit in or participates in such acts will be held
personally responsible before the law, will be subject to criminal
prosecution and will be punished accordingly. Impunity for acts
of torture and ill-treatment 10. The Committee
takes note of the State party’s recognition that acts of torture have taken
place and have neither been investigated nor prosecuted. In particular, it
notes the absence of specific information on prosecutions initiated,
sentences pronounced or disciplinary sanctions imposed on police or prison
officers found guilty of acts of torture or ill-treatment. The Committee also
notes the State party’s acknowledgement that the weakness of domestic
legislation contributes to impunity (arts. 2, 4, 12, 13 and 16). The State party
should ensure that all allegations of torture or ill-treatment are the
subject of prompt, impartial, thorough and effective investigations and that
the perpetrators are prosecuted and sentenced to penalties commensurate with
the grave nature of the acts committed, as required by article 4 of the Convention,
without prejudice to appropriate disciplinary sanctions. The State party
should also take all appropriate legal measures to fully remedy this
impunity. Search … AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL For current
articles:: Search Amnesty
International Website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=djibouti+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 31 December
2018] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61566.htm [accessed 24 January
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61566.htm [accessed 3 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law prohibits
such practices; however, there continued to be reports that police and
gendarmes beat and physically abused prisoners and detainees. In March police
arrested and reportedly beat Warris Mouhoumed, a businesswoman who refused police orders to
close her restaurant during the two-week election campaign. Police charged
that patrons of her restaurant, a gathering place for members of the
opposition, insulted and threatened passersby. Mouhoumed
was released the following day, and her restaurant remained closed for two
weeks. No action was taken
against the two police officers responsible for the April 2004 assault on and
arrest of opposition figure Mohamed Darar Waberi. Members of police
vice squads targeted prostitutes on the streets and reportedly raped them as
a precondition for their release. Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 5 Civil Liberties: 5 Status: Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/djibouti [accessed 24 January
2013] LONG URL
ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 12 May
2020] The judicial system
is based on the French civil code, although Sharia (Islamic law) prevails in
family matters. The courts are not independent of the government. The
Constitutional Council is charged with ensuring the constitutionality of laws
and protecting the individual, but in practice its rulings do not always
uphold civil and human rights. Security forces often make arrests without a
proper decree from a judicial magistrate, in violation of constitutional
requirements. Security forces at times have physically abused prisoners and
detainees. Prison conditions remain harsh, and overcrowding is a serious
problem. No action has been taken against security personnel who used
excessive force to disperse demonstrations in previous years. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
Djibouti", http://gvnet.com/torture/Djibouti.htm, [accessed
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