The Human Rights of Detained Persons in Ethiopia Case Study in Addis Ababa
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Date
2012-12
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Th e ICC PR und er articl e 10 ex pr ess ly prov id es that deta in ed per so ns sho uld be treated wit h
re spect to th eir dign ity. Mo reove r, th e res pec ti ve s up erviso ry orga ns o f th e internationa l and
re giona l hum an right s in strument s make it clea r thr ough thei r juri s prudence that de plorable
detention condition s con stitute violati on of tOl1ure , cruel , inhuman or deg rading treat ment or
puni shment. Thi s appro ac h broaden s the horizon of protection o f hum an right s abu ses in
detention places as t0l1ure with all its form s is prohibited in many of human rights
in struments such as, UDHR, ICCPR, AC HPR , EC ]-IR a nd ACHR. For this end , a ser ies of
minimum standards for trea tment of detai ned pe rso ns are adopted both internat io nall y and
re gional whic h are serv ing as thresho lds to find v iola tion of human d ign ity.
Likewi se, the Et hi op ian lega l system ha s eq ui va le nt se t of legis lat ions for the tre atment of
detain ed pe rso ns. The 199 5 co nstitution gua rantees th at deta in ed persons shall be treated
with due re s pect to th eir d ignity. Fed era l Pri son s Co mmi ss io n Establi shment Proclamation,
365/2003 point s out th e mandate, structure and objecti ve of pr iso ns where it ex pr ess ly
prov ides that pr iso ns have to end eavor to ensure the reh ab ili tation of detained pe rson s. Mo re
important ly the minimum sta ndard s for treating de tain ed perso ns is promul ga ted by Fede ra l
Deta in ees Trea tment Regu latio n No 138/2 007 whi c h pro vide s for Accommoda tion, Pe rso nal
hyg iene , Clot hin g a nd beddin g, Food , Med ical se rvice s, comp la ints mec hani sms and
a ve nu e, In s pect ion, sport and ex e rcise, educat ion and training , sepa ration of accommodation
and work cond itions.
With re s pect to the pract ice, however, the study found that tr ea tm ent of detai ned persons in
Ethiopia failed short of co mpli anc e to minimum expectati ons as it found cha ll en ges such
as hi gh leve ls of overcrowd in g, di se ase, malnutriti o n, unh yg ienic co ndition , lack of
se par ate treatment ba se d o n sex, age, illness and nat ure of cr im ina l; lack of orga ni ze d a nd
continu in g education and train in g a nd absence of viab le compliant hea rin g mec hani s m. The
st ud y, fina ll y, makes reco mm endat ion s that co uld rectify th e ex istin g cha ll enges .
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Keywords
Human Rights, Ethiopia, Detained Persons