Trial Procedures

According to the law, accused persons have the right to a fair public trial by a court of law within a “reasonable time,” a presumption of innocence, the right to be represented by legal counsel of their choice, and the right to appeal. However, closed proceedings occurred, at times authorities allowed detainees little or no contact with legal counsel, and detainees usually were not presumed innocent. Judicial inefficiency, lengthy trial delays, and lack of qualified staff often resulted in serious delays in trial proceedings.

The Public Defender’s Office provides legal counsel to indigent defendants, although its scope and quality of service remained limited due to the shortage of attorneys available. Although the law explicitly stipulates that persons charged with corruption are to be shown the evidence against them prior to their trials, authorities routinely denied defense counsel pretrial access to such evidence.

In the country’s judicial system, there are federal and regional criminal courts. There are federal first instance courts, high courts, and the Supreme Court. There are also regional first instance courts and high courts. The Supreme Court maintains appellate authority over all courts.

The law provides legal standing to some preexisting religious and customary courts and allows federal and regional legislatures to recognize other courts. By law all parties to a dispute must agree to use a customary or religious court before such a court may hear a case. Shari’a (Islamic) courts may hear religious and family cases involving Muslims. In addition other traditional systems of justice, such as Councils of Elders, continued to function. Although not sanctioned by law, these traditional courts resolved disputes for the majority of citizens who lived in rural areas and generally had little access to formal judicial systems.

The federal first instance court’s seventh criminal branch, headed by three judges, handled cases involving juvenile offenses and cases of sexual abuse of women and children. There was a large backlog of juvenile cases, and accused children often remained in detention with adults until officials heard their cases.

Criminal matters related to the military are handled by military tribunals. Military tribunals may not try civilians except in cases of national security. The military justice system lacked adequately trained staff to handle the growing caseload.

In January and February 2007, Ethiopian forces serving in Somalia arrested and detained civilians suspected of being affiliated with foreign fighters in Somalia. Some of the civilians were released after questioning; however, two international NGOs reported that some were transferred from Somalia through Kenya to Ethiopia, where they were tried by a military tribunal. Others were held without charge or due process. While most of these foreign fighters were returned to their home countries in 2007, the country returned eight Kenyans to Kenya on October 4. These are believed to be the last remaining such detainees.

In 2006 the 57 top officials from the former Derg (Mengistu) regime, including former communist dictator Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam, were found guilty of genocide, treason, and murder for crimes committed during their 17 years of rule. On January 11, they were given sentences ranging from 23 years to life in prison. However, the prosecutor appealed many of these sentences, and on May 26, the court sentenced Colonel Mengistu and 18 of his associates to death. All but Colonel Mengistu, who was in exile in Zimbabwe, sat on death row at year’s end; the government had not established an execution date.

Political Prisoners and Detainees

The number of political prisoners and detainees during the year was estimated to be in the hundreds. There were numerous reports of unlawful detention of opposition candidates and their supporters, mostly in the months before April’s local and by-elections (see section 3).

In one example, Chaka Robi, a 20-year-old CUD supporter, was arrested without a warrant from his Addis Ababa residence on March 5. Officials held him in Maekelawi where, family members reported to the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), police denied them visitation rights accorded by law. It is common practice for police to deny visitation rights without cause while detainees are under investigation.

Political prisoner Assefa Abraha, former head of the Office of Government Development Organizations in the Prime Minister’s Office, was paroled on July 31 after serving more than seven years in detention. Police arrested Assefa and four of his siblings, including former defense minister Seeye Abraha, on corruption charges in May 2001 following a contentious rift within the ruling party but released his siblings in 2007. Assefa was eventually convicted in July 2007 and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment before being paroled.

In mid-October about 20 people were arrested and put under the custody of the Federal Army at the Army Camp in Dembe Dollo. Among them was Ato Makonnin Dheressa, a prominent member of the OFDM. He was released one week later.

In late October/early November, police, local authorities, and ruling party cadres arrested more than a dozen second-tier leaders from various opposition parties engaged in community outreach or opening new offices throughout the country. OFDM secretary general Bekele Jirata was arrested on October 30 and charged on December 16 with recruiting and organizing OLF members, promoting OLF terrorist activities, and financially supporting the OLF. The case was pending at year’s end.

On December 5,a popular singer known as Teddy Afro (Tewodros Kassahun) was sentenced to six years in prison and fined 18,000 birr ($1,755) for the hit-and-run death of a homeless man in 2006. Some of Teddy Afro’s songs were seen as opposition anthems during the violent aftermath of the 2005 elections. While it is unclear whether the conviction was politically motivated, the expeditious incarceration and prosecution of Afro’s case 18 months after the alleged incident suggest political interference rather than solely delays in pursuing the case.

On December 29, Unity for Democracy and Justice Party president Birtukan Mideksa was rearrested for accurately telling European media organizations that she had not requested from the government a pardon leading to her release from jail in July 2007. President Girma Wolde-Giorgis revoked her pardon and reinstated her life sentence.

At year’s end, many other political detainees, including CUD, ONLF, and OLF members, remained in prison.

In July and August 2007, the government pardoned 71 individuals arrested following demonstrations in 2005. The pardons permitted the defendants’ future political participation, but in practice the government continued to limit that right.

The trial continued for most of the 52 individuals arrested in 2006-07 for alleged membership in the EPF, although two prominent ETA members reportedly disappeared (see section 2.b.).

Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies

Civil courts, which provided judicial remedy for alleged wrongs, were generally viewed as independent and impartial. The law provides citizens the right to appeal human rights violations in civil court; however, no such cases were filed during the year.

f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence

The law requires authorities to obtain judicial warrants to search private property; however, in practice, particularly outside Addis Ababa, police often ignored this law. Opposition party representatives claimed that police sometimes used fraudulent warrants to enter homes and commit criminal acts, including extorting money. This occurred primarily in the months preceding April’s local and by-elections. There were reports that members of local militias robbed persons during the year in locations throughout Oromiya.

There continued to be reports of police forcibly entering civilian homes throughout the year.

All but three electronic communications facilities were state-owned. Political party leaders reported incidents of telephone tapping and other electronic eavesdropping. There were also reports of the government jamming radio stations (see section 2.a.).

The government used a widespread system of paid informants to report on the activities of particular individuals.

There were reports during the year of the forced displacement of families in the Somali Region (see section 1.g.).

Security forces continued to detain family members of persons sought for questioning by the government.

g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts

During the year fighting continued between government forces, including government-backed and affiliated militia, and the ONLF, an ethnically based, nationalist, insurgent movement operating in the Somali Region, triggering widespread criticism of human rights abuses. While NGO reports of burnt villages and population displacement significantly declined during the year, unsubstantiated, but largely credible, reports of human rights abuses continued, including extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, abductions, and arbitrary arrest. Deliveries of food and medicine were restricted as a result of insecurity, lack of capacity, and Ethiopian military restrictions. Since the ONLF was outlawed in 1994, the organization has engaged in low-intensity armed conflict with the government. The regional conflict in Somalia that began in late 2006 spread to the Somali Region and, allegedly fueled by support from the Eritrean government, resulted in greatly increased armed activity by the ONLF, whose members share ethnic ties with Somalis. Civilians, international NGOs, and other aid organizations operating in the region have reported that both the ENDF and the ONLF were responsible for abuses and harsh techniques used to intimidate the civilian population.

Since the Ethiopian military began significant counterinsurgency operations in the Ogaden in response to the April 2007 slaying of oil exploration workers, the government has limited the access of diplomats, NGOs, and journalists to the Somali Region, allegedly due to serious security concerns.However, human rights groups and others have accused the government of denying access to the region in order to prevent potential critics and observers from monitoring ENDF operations. The government has allowed some humanitarian access, but the ability to investigate human rights abuses has been restricted. Reports of human rights violations largely have come from interviews with second-hand sources or alleged victims who have fled the Somali Region.

In June HRW issued a report alleging that the ENDF committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Ogaden area of the Somali Region. The report claimed a “brutal counter-insurgency” campaign was conducted in the Ogaden involving systematic forced relocation, burning of villages, arbitrary killings, mass detentions, torture, rape and assault, livestock confiscations, and restrictions on civilian movements. In response to the allegations the government conducted its own investigation into the alleged abuses and found that there were no systematic human rights abuses but rather “evidence of one or two cases of abuse, and one of torture.” The selection of former ruling party insider Lisan Yohannes to lead the investigation, however, opens questions about the independence of the investigation. The government stated that the officer responsible for the said abuses was summoned to court. [Continued on next page]