Ethiopia is the world’s 15th leading imprisoning nation, says ICPS

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

In officially known prisons in Ethiopia, International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS) reports that there are 93,044 prisoners. This puts the country into the 15th leading imprisoning nation in the world.

However, since Ethiopia has so many unknown prisons, often where tortures are routinely practised, the number of prisoners in Ethiopia is very small and misleading.

In Africa, even then Ethiopia ranks the second highest imprisoning nation, after South Africa with its 157, 284 prisoners.

At 2.8 percent, however, Ethiopia ranks 31st in the proportion of its female prisoners relative to the total prison population in Africa. The dubious honor in this, i.e., female prisoners rate has gone to the Central African Republic and Rwanda, at 8.2 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively.

At 14.0 percent, Ethiopia ranks 172nd in the world by the number of its pre-trial detainees.

Based on estimated population of 84.2 million in 2011, the prison population rate is 111 in Ethiopia per 100,000 national population. In world prison population rate, Ethiopia is 135th and 19th in Africa. Leading countries in this rates within national populations are Seychelles, Rwanda and South Africa.

Since 2000, according to the ICPS report, prison population in Ethiopia has been increasing significantly. Between the first year and the second, the increase was 12.0 percent and 19.0 percent, it also rising as the total number reached 112,361 in 2010.