The Role of Public Prosecutors in the Enforcement of Prisoners' Rights: The case of Bench-Shecko Zone Correction Center

Abstract

Prisoners have the right to enjoy the same human rights as persons at liberty, subject only to those restrictions that are an unavoidable as a consequence of the confinement or restrictions part of sentence by the court. Accordingly various international human right instruments and specific rules and standards provide protections for Prisoners. In Ethiopia, both the FDRE and SNNPRS constitutions guaranteed the treatment of prisoners to be carried out respecting their human dignity. Specifically, the SNNPRS Manner of Treatment of Inmates of Prisons Regulation provides detail rules on the right of prisoners and their treatments in correction facilities. On the other hand, the closed environment of correction facilities, including the unequal power relations between prison staff and prisoners, produce vulnerabilities and the risks of abuse in different forms. Therefore, there should be mechanisms to follow-up and check the proper implementations of prisoners’ rights in correction facilities. One strategy which seeks to prevent ill-treatment and other breaches of rights in correction facilities has been to put in place mechanisms to inspect correction facilities and monitor how human rights obligations are being fulfilled by authorities. Correction facilities inspection and monitoring bodies are therefore important safeguards against breaches of human rights of prisoners. In line with this, various international instruments such as the Nelson Mandela Rules, requires the monitoring and inspection of correctional facilities by independent external oversight body in the regular basis. Domestically, in Ethiopia, particularly in SNNPRS, the power and responsibilities of monitoring and inspecting correction facilities is given to public prosecutors. The SNNPRS, Attorney General Establishment Proclamation No.177 /2018, provides the power of public prosecutors to visit and inspect the condition of the treatment of prisoners in correction facilities and to take appropriate corrective measures. The objective of this study is therefore, to assess and examine the role of public prosecutors in the enforcement of the right of prisoners in Bench-Sheko Zone correction center. The study examines weather public prosecutors are conducting regular and frequent visit and inspection to Bench-Sheko Zone correction center to ensure the iv implementation of prisoners right in accordance with the law. It also assess, weather public prosecutors are taking necessary corrective legal or administrative measure to ensure the observance of prisoners right in the correction center. To achieve this, the researcher employed both open-ended and closed-ended questionnaire and in-depth interviews with different key informants. Accordingly, the finding of the study shows that, in the study area, the public prosecutor role in the enforcements of prisoners’ right is very weak. Although prosecutors are conducting some occasional visit to the correction center, they are not properly inspecting the condition of the treatment of prisoners in the correction center. The study further find out that, despite the existence of the prisoners’ right violation and inadequacies on the treatment of prisoners and the facilities in the correction center, prosecutors are not taking appropriate corrective or other important legal measures to ensure the protection of the right of prisoners.