A notorious underground prison in Somalia, where the government held suspected extremists and journalists has been closed.
The closure comes amid allegations of abuses against inmates.
Somalia’s security minister Ahmed Abukar said on Sunday that the Godka Jilaow prison would be converted into a technical school.
The facility held hundreds of prisoners including suspected al-Shabaab fighters.
The prisoners, Abukar said would be transferred elsewhere. The shutting of the prison, ran by Somalia’s intelligence agency, was part of efforts to improve the country’s human rights record.
There were many allegations that prisoners were tortured in the underground cells, according to human rights groups. The prison was used by Dictator Siad Barre to jail his critics before he was deposed in 1991.
Rights activists say many suspects have been held in the prison for years without charges, while others faced military trials.
Military courts in Somalia continue to try a broad range of cases, including terrorism-related offenses, in proceedings that are far short of international standards for fair trials, according to the Human Rights Watch.
At least 23 individuals were executed in 2017 following military court convictions, the majority on terrorism-related charges, the group said.
Source: Africafeeds.com
