An appraisal of the Rights to Effective Remedy for Victims of International Crimes in Ethiopia

Abstract

In most jurisdictions including Ethiopia as crime is seen primarily as an act against the state rather than the individuals, parties to the proceeding is prosecutor and perpetrator of the crime in exclusion of victims. Justice in actual sense is not only two fold movement between the criminal and state, but justice should be also for victims of those crimes. Under criminal justice system of Ethiopia remedy of victims without clear identification as to victims of international crimes or ordinary crime is provided. Hence the theme of this thesis is to examine whether or not right to effective remedy for victims of international crimes exist under Ethiopian criminal justice system and to analyze the legal basis of this right in Ethiopia. The approach of Ethiopian court with regard to rights to remedy of victims of international crimes has been also observed. To this end, the researcher used mixed research approach of doctrinal research to examine legal doctrine of the rights to effective remedy for victims of international crimes and non-doctrinal research specifically qualitative research method to examine practical applicability of laws related to remedial rights of victims of international crimes, and identify the practical gaps exists with regard to rights to effective remedy in using questionnaries as sampling tools of data collection. Then the data were analyzed deductively for doctrinal research while inductively for qualitative research method in examining the practical application of laws, and existing challenges on the ground. Based upon the research findings, the researcher found out that though Ethiopia has conventional obligation to provide remedy for victims of core crimes under international human rights and humanitarian law as well engaged in domestic prosecution of international Crimes at its domestic courts, victims of those heinous crimes are left without any remedy. This study also reveals that major challenges prevalent in Ethiopia with regard to rights to effective remedy for victims of international crimes are: absence of clear law both substantive and procedural that regulate remedial aspects of crime of this category, absence of institutional frame works indebted with mandate to regulate effective remedy for victims of international crimes ,absence of independent state fund used for remedy of victims, and scarcity of budget and prevalence of poverty are topical one . Based upon these findings sorts of recommendations are also forwarded by this research