Protection of human rights in the context of policing demonstrations in Ethiopia

Abstract

The right to demonstrate peacefully is a human right recognized and protected under human rights laws, at domestic and international level alike. This right is recognized and protected as one type of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and as an essential form of exercising fundamental freedoms and all human rights. The right to peaceful demonstration is instrumental for exercising political, economic and social rights. It is an essential component of democracy and also helps to address and resolve challenges and issues of the society like the environment, sustainable development, crime prevention, human trafficking, empowering women, social justice, consumer protection and the realization of all human rights. States Parties which ratify international human rights instruments recognizing the right to peaceful demonstration assume duties of ensuring the exercising of the right. The duties include coining of policy and legal frameworks domestically that regulate the right to peaceful demonstration, the use of force and firearms in policing demonstrations, control and oversight and effective remedy and redress for victims of human rights violations that conforms to international human rights standards.. Ethiopia owes obligations to protect the right to peaceful demonstration and human rights in policing demonstrations emanating from its commitment to major human rights instruments recognizing the right, most notably the ICCPR and ACHPR. However, in this study, the researcher has found that the government of Ethiopia has not taken adequate measures necessary for giving effect to the right to peaceful demonstration and protecting human rights during policing demonstration. The country has not adopted policy of policing peaceful demonstrations. Also, the protection extended to the right to peaceful demonstration by the FDRE Constitution is inadequate as it fails to contain fundamental principles of guarantees against arbitrary actions and decisions of authorities. The implementing law of the right also many gaps and loopholes. In practice also the country‟s response to peaceful demonstration has been characterized by use of excessive force; killing, injury and detentions of demonstrators. Thus the country‟s experience of human rights protection during policing demonstration is against the human rights obligations of the country, both under international and domestic laws.