When the story first broke on January 3, local and international media reported that Desalegn has vowed to release “all” political prisoners. Within hours, authorities were in a damage-control mode, telling reporters Ethiopia does not hold any political prisoners. True, Hailemariam never explicitly admitted to the existence of “political prisoners”. There is no precise estimate of the number of political prisoners in Ethiopia, but rights groups say they are in the tens of thousands. Only once all political prisoners are out of jail, and these restrictions on basic rights are lifted, can we start taking the Ethiopian government’s promises of reform seriously.

Source: Ethiopian News January 17, 2018 18:00 UTC