Wakilii

Gabre-Selassie and Another v Ethiopia (Communication 301 of 2005)

African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights · [2013] ACHPR 118 · 2013 Communication Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Communication to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights alleging violations of the African Charter arising from prolonged pre-trial detention and trial of former Dergue officials in Ethiopia
Decision
Communication upheld; violations of the African Charter established; compensation ordered

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The African Commission held that Ethiopia violated Articles 1, 2, 7(1)(b), and 7(1)(d) of the African Charter. Proclamation No. 22/1992 presumed guilt before trial by branding the accused as criminals. Public statements by government officials violated the presumption of innocence. Pre-trial detention of three years followed by a trial lasting over thirteen years constituted anticipatory punishment and violated the right to be tried within a reasonable time. Delays were attributable to the State's dismantling of the judiciary, overly ambitious transitional justice model, absence of legal safeguards, joinder of numerous accused and charges, and unclear indictments. The Commission ordered Ethiopia to pay adequate compensation to the victims.

Outcome

Communication upheld; violations of the African Charter established; compensation ordered

Facts

Following the overthrow of the Mengistu regime (Dergue) in Ethiopia in 1991, over 106 former Dergue officials surrendered and were arrested. They remained in detention for three years before trial commenced in 1994. The Special Prosecutor's Office was established in 1992 by Proclamation No. 22/1992, which suspended time limitations and habeas corpus rights. The Proclamation's preamble branded the accused as criminals who had committed heinous crimes. Government officials made public statements asserting the guilt of the accused before and during trial. The trial involved joinder of over seventy accused persons charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and other offences under the Ethiopian Penal Code. The prosecution presented 726 witnesses and voluminous documentary evidence. The trial lasted over thirteen years, with judgment delivered in December 2006 and sentences in January 2007. Many accused were sentenced to terms ranging from 23 years to life imprisonment, with some receiving death sentences. By the time of the Communication, at least ten detainees had died in custody before knowing their fate.

Issues

  1. Whether the Respondent State violated Articles 1 and 2 of the African Charter by failing to recognize and protect the rights of the former Dergue officials.
  2. Whether Proclamation No. 22/1992 establishing the Special Prosecutor's Office violated the right to be presumed innocent under Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter.
  3. Whether statements made by Respondent State officials during and after the trial violated the right to be presumed innocent under Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter.
  4. Whether the excessively long pre-trial detention (three years) and prolonged trial (over thirteen years) violated the right to be presumed innocent under Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter.
  5. Whether the Respondent State violated the right to be tried within a reasonable time by an impartial court under Article 7(1)(d) of the African Charter through delays attributable to dismantling the court system, the ambitious nature of transitional justice pursued, absence of legal checkpoints, joinder of cases and accused persons, unclear charges, and failure to present evidence promptly.

Orders

  • Communication declared admissible.
  • Respondent State found in violation of Articles 1, 2, 7(1)(b), and 7(1)(d) of the African Charter.
  • Respondent State ordered to pay adequate compensation to the victims for violation of their right to be presumed innocent and to be tried within a reasonable time.
  • Respondent State ordered to report on implementation of recommendations within three months from date of notification.

Rules and key headnotes

Actio Popularis — Locus Standi before the African Commission — No Requirement of Citizenship or Registration in Respondent State
Neither the African Charter nor the Rules of Procedure of the African Commission requires that the author of a Communication be a national of or registered in the territory of the Respondent State. Under the actio popularis principle, any interested individual or organisation can bring a Communication on behalf of a victim without being a citizen or registered within a State party to the African Charter, provided the admissibility requirements of Article 56 are satisfied.
Joinder of Parties — African Commission's Power to Join Co-Authors to a Communication
Although neither the African Charter nor the Rules of Procedure makes express provision for joinder of parties, the African Commission has the prerogative to join parties as co-authors to a Communication where doing so serves the protection of human rights. Denial of access would be contrary to the spirit of the Charter, which mandates the Commission to ensure the protection of human and peoples' rights in Africa.
Fair Trial — Presumption of Innocence — Legislative Presumption of Guilt
Where legislation establishing a prosecutorial body brands accused persons as criminals and describes their alleged acts as heinous and horrendous crimes before trial, the legislation violates the right to be presumed innocent under Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter. Such a legislative pronouncement constitutes a presumption of guilt and transforms the prosecutor into a persecutor rather than an impartial officer of justice.
Fair Trial — Presumption of Innocence — Pre-Trial Publicity by Public Officials
Public officials, including ministers and prosecutors, may inform the public about criminal investigations but must refrain from expressing a view as to the guilt of any suspect. Statements by high-ranking government officials asserting the guilt of accused persons before conviction violates the right to be presumed innocent under Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter, as such statements prejudge the outcome of the trial and demonstrate hostility and bias.
Fair Trial — Presumption of Innocence — Prolonged Pre-Trial Detention as Anticipatory Punishment
Pre-trial detention of three years followed by a trial lasting over thirteen years, resulting in a total of sixteen years' imprisonment without conviction, violates the right to be presumed innocent under Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter. Such prolonged detention loses its purpose as an instrument to serve the interests of justice and constitutes anticipatory punishment, effectively serving a sentence before judgment.
Fair Trial — Right to Trial Within a Reasonable Time — State's Duty to Organize Judiciary
The right to be tried within a reasonable time under Article 7(1)(d) of the African Charter imposes a duty on States Parties to organize their judiciary in such a way that the right can be effectively enjoyed. Where delays in trial are attributable to the State's dismantling of the court system, shortage of judges, overly ambitious prosecutorial strategy, absence of legal checkpoints, joinder of numerous accused and charges, and unclear indictments, the State violates Article 7(1)(d). An accused person in detention is entitled to have his case given priority and expedited.
Fair Trial — Non-Derogability — Right to Fair Trial as Fundamental and Non-Derogable
The right to a fair trial is a fundamental right, the non-observance of which undermines all other human rights. It is a non-derogable right under the African Charter. No circumstances whatsoever, whether a threat of war, a state of international or internal armed conflict, internal political instability, or any other public emergency, may be invoked to justify derogations from the right to a fair trial.

Legislation cited (35)

  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 1
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 2
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)(b)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 7(1)(d)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 55
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 56
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 60
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 61
  • Ethiopian Proclamation No. 22/1992
  • Ethiopian Constitution Article 9
  • Ethiopian Constitution Article 19
  • Ethiopian Constitution Article 20(4)
  • Ethiopian Constitution Article 62(1)
  • Ethiopian Constitution Article 78
  • Ethiopian Constitution Article 78(4)
  • Ethiopian Constitution Article 79(2)
  • Ethiopian Constitution Article 79(3)
  • Ethiopian Constitution Article 83(1)
  • Ethiopian Penal Code Article 281
  • Ethiopian Penal Code Article 286
  • Ethiopian Penal Code Article 414
  • Ethiopian Penal Code Article 416
  • Ethiopian Penal Code Article 522
  • Ethiopian Penal Code Article 538
  • Ethiopian Criminal Procedure Code Article 111
  • Ethiopian Criminal Procedure Code Article 112
  • Ethiopian Criminal Procedure Code Article 116
  • Ethiopian Criminal Procedure Code Article 117
  • Ethiopian Criminal Procedure Code Article 130
  • Ethiopian Human Rights Commission Establishment Proclamation No. 210/2000 Article 7
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 14
  • International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • American Convention on Human Rights Article 8
  • European Convention on Human Rights Article 6

Cases cited (24)

  • Malawi African Association and Others v Mauritania (Communications 54/91, 61/91, 164/97 to 196/97, 210/98)
  • WOAT/OMCTs v Zaire (Communications 25/89, 47/90, 56/91, 100/93)
  • Spilg and Mack & DITSHWANELO v Botswana (Communication 277/2003)
  • Bob Njoku v Egypt (Communication 40/90)
  • Media Rights Agenda v Nigeria (Communication 224/98)
  • Law Office of Ghazi Suleiman v Sudan (Communications 222/98 & 229/99)
  • Civil Liberties Organisation and Others v Nigeria (Communication 218/98)
  • Sir Dawda Jawara v The Gambia (Communications 147/95 and 149/96)
  • Legal Resources Foundation v Zambia (Communication 211/98)
  • Purohit and Moore v The Gambia (Communication 241/2001)
  • Commission Nationale des Droits de L'Homme et des Libertes v Chad (Communication 74/92)
  • Mouvement Burkinabe des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples v Burkina Faso (Communication 204/97)
  • Annette Pagnoulle v Cameroon (Communication 39/90)
  • Alhassan Abubakar v Ghana (Communication 103/93)
  • CRP v Nigeria (Communication 153/96)
  • Allenet de Ribomont v. France
  • Juan Humberto Sánchez v Honduras (Series C No. 99)
  • Dayra María Levoyer Jiménez v. Ecuador
  • Waldemar Gerónimo Pinheiro and José Víctor dos Santos v. Paraguay
  • Amnesty International v Tunisia (Communication 69/92)
  • Amnesty International and Others v Sudan (Communications 48/90, 50/91, 52/91, 89/93)
  • Social and Economic Rights Action Center v Nigeria (Communication 155/96)
  • Recontre Africaine pour la Defence des Droits de l'Homme v Zambia (Communication 71/92)
  • Institute for Human and Development in Africa v Mauritania (Communications 164/97 and 196/97)

Full judgment

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Gabre-Selassie and Another v Ethiopia (Communication 301 of 2005) [2013] ACHPR 118 (12 October 2013)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.