እንኳን ለአለማቀፍ የሴቶች ቀን አደረሳችሁ። ዛሬ የመጣሁበት ዋነኛ ምክንያት ከዚህ ቀን ማለትም ከአለማቀፍ ሴቶች ቀን እና አለማቀፍ ነጭ ሪቫን ቀን አከባበር ጋር በተያያዘ ሁል ግዜም በአይምሮዬ የሚመላለሱ ጥያቄዎች ስላሉኝ እነሱን ለማንሳት እና ከጉዳዩም ጋር ተያይዞ ከስራ እና በሕይወት የተረዳኋቸውን አንዳንድ ነጥቦች ለማካፈል ነው።

“The importance of ensuring the broadest possible civic space in every country cannot be overstated…The protection of the civic space, and the empowerment of human rights defenders, needs to become a key priority for every principled global, regional and national actor."

Due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the government’s decision to close schools and the banning of all sports events and large public gatherings for the next fifteen days. The decision was made after the government has confirmed a total of five cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. Going forward, the government is expected to take measures, which will have an adverse effect on the constitutional and legislative rights of health professionals, customs officers and the general public. In this article, I will discuss some of the possible limitations on the rights of these people and possible measures that the government is entitled to take in case of disobedience.

Duties and Limitations Associated with COVID-19

In relation to the outbreak of COVID-19, different segments of the society are duty bound to assist in preventing the spread of the disease. Specifically, the duties on health professionals, customs officers and individual citizens are briefly explained below.

Walking in Addis Ababa is not safe for people with disabilities because the infrastructure is not constructed considering their needs. For example, it is very common to see uncovered drainage line holes which are usually found on the sidewalks and have caused accidents to many. The visually impaired are especially vulnerable to accidents since, in addition to the drainage line holes being left open, the tactile sidewalks which are meant to guide them usually lead directly to the holes.

 INTRODUCTION

This article is about “The police and human rights in Ethiopia”. Every state has the obligation to respect, protect and fulfill human rights of human beings. And police as one part the executive organ of government has its own obligations towards human rights. These include the obligation to respect and protect human rights. And police officers have also a direct and day to day contact with the entire society that requires an enormous effort and patience of police officers to respect and protect human rights.

The objective of this article is to survey the different aspects of human rights, explore the role of police in relation to human rights in the federal system of Ethiopia and examine the possible remedies for violation of human rights in a summarized fashion.    

The scope of this article is limited to the police, its role in relation to the respect and protection of human rights, the possibilities in which police officers violate human rights and the possible remedies for violation of human rights. And deep analysis of all responsibilities of police is not the concern of this article. 

Questions such as: What are the responsibilities of police in respecting and protection human rights? How are victims treated by police officers? Is there any guideline or technique regarding treatment of victims in Ethiopia? What are the international, regional and national legal frameworks of remedies for violation of human rights? What are the possible remedies for violation of human rights? Are all the remedies effectively applicable in Ethiopia? How far are police officers responsible for their actions that violate human rights of citizens? and other related questions are answered, assessed and analyzed under this article. 

INTRODUCTION

Preamble of the United Nations (UN) Charter requires member states and the people of the UN “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small”. In order to achieve this goal of the charter and secure universal recognition and implementation of human rights to their citizens’ member states of the United Nations entered into seven major human rights treaties.

The seven core international human rights treaties create legal obligations for state parties to promote and protect human rights at the national level. When a country accepts one of these treaties through ratification, accession or succession, it assumes a legal obligation to implement the rights set out in that treaty. In addition to this, state parties to these treaties have also the obligation to report every activities conducted in the name of implementation to the United Nations treaty based bodies. 

Ethiopia as a member of the United Nation and member of these human rights treaties has the obligation to implement the treaties and report its implementation. However, a part from the implementation problem Ethiopia has been criticized for its failure or delay to report its implementation of the treaties. Keeping in mind this criticism related to Ethiopian human rights reporting record, questions and issues related with human rights reporting system with special emphasis to the Ethiopian context is assessed and analyzed under this paper. And, just because human rights reporting are highly related with the rights enshrined under the treaties concepts about some rights are discussed in a summarized fashion.  

One of the many things globalization is credited for is that it has “considerably weakened traditional governance processes,” according to Professor Charnovitz Steve, a well-known writer on non-state actors in governance. “Increasing global economic integration has reduced the power of national governments while granting other economic and political actors access to the world stage,” Charbovitz wrote.

In Ethiopia the emergence of rigorous and formal Non-Governmental Organizations/Civil Society Organizations (NGOs/CSOs) dates back to barely two decades ago, although a few NGOs were already there during the imperial era, which were established according to the 1960 Civil Code. But most of the voluntary initiatives were run only by members of the royal family and a few foreign individuals.  The trend was not so much different during the subsequent Derg regime. According to Jeffrey Clarke, who wrote about Ethiopia’s civil society organization activities in late 1990s, there were two groupings of NGOs during the Derg regime: international relief agencies which were officially accepted by the regime and the humanitarian sections of armed opposition groups operating beyond its control.

The two decades from 1991 to 2009 are known as a period when a remarkable progress in the numbers and activities of NGOs/CSOs was seen in the history of the country. A relatively enabling atmosphere and significant contributions by these NGOs/CSOs (the latter renamed as Charities and Societies Organization, ChSOs) to various programs that the country was desperately embarked on gave boost to the birth of hundreds of NOGs and ChSOs.

Because of that, and enabling political changes the country was experiencing, foreign donor organizations such as USAID, Global Fund, CDC, Clinton Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation have relentlessly bankrolled the entire programs to fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, vaccination and institutional capacity building programs that were undertaken by as many NGOs/ChSOs in Ethiopia over the past two decades.

በአገር ውስጥ እና በተለይም ወደ ሌሎች አገራት የሚካሄድ ሕገወጥ የሰዎች ዝውውር በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የላቀ ትኩረት እያገኘ መጥቷል፡፡ ይህም ትኩረት በቅርቡ ጉዳዩ እያገኘ ካለው ሰፊ የሚድያ ሽፋን ባሻገር ችግሩን ለመፍታት በተከታታይ በመንግስት እየተወሰዱ ያሉ የሕግ፣ የፖሊሲና የፕሮግራም እርምጃዎች ላይ ይንፀባረቃል፡፡ ለዚህ ጉዳይ የተሰጠው ትኩረት ይበል የሚያሰኝ ቢሆንም አልፎ አልፎ ሕገወጥ የሰዎች ዝውውር ምንነት ጋር በተያያዘ የተወሰነ ግራ መጋባት ይታያል፡፡ ይሕ አጭር ጽሁፍ ይህንን ክፍተት ለመሙላት ለሚደረው ጥረት አስተዋጽኦ ያደርጋል በሚል እምነት የተዘጋጀ ነው፡፡

ትርጉም

የተ.መ.ድ. እ.ኤ.ኤ. በ2000 ዓ.ም. ያወጣውና የፓሌርሞ ስምምነት በመባል የሚታወቀው ስምምነት በሰዎች መነገድ ወይም ሕገ-ወጥ የሰዎች ዝውውር ለብዝበዛ ዓላማ ሰዎችን (በተለይም ሴቶችና ሕፃናትን) በኃይል፣ በዛቻ፣ በተንኮል፣ በማታለል፣ በመጥለፍ ወይም በተበዳይ ላይ ኃላፊነት ላለው ሰው ገንዘብ ወይም ሌላ ጥቅም በመስጠት መመልመል፣ ማጓጓዝ፣ ማስተላለፍ፣ መደበቅ ወይም መቀበል ማለት እንደሆነ ይገልፃል፡፡ ሕፃናትን በተመለከተ ለብዝበዛ ዓላማ እስከሆነ ድረስ ሕፃናቱን መመልመል፣ ማጓጓዝ፣ ማስተላለፍ፣ መደበቅ ወይም መቀበል በራሱ በሰዎች መነገድ ተደርጎ ይወሰዳል፡፡ በሴቶችና በልጆች መነገድን የሚከለክለው የኢትዮጵያ የወንጀል ሕግ አንቀጽ 597 እና 635 ላይም ይኸው ትርጉም ተሰጥቶታል፡፡ ከዚህ ትርጓሜ መረዳት እንደምንችለው በሰዎች መነገድ በዋነኛነት ሦስት ነገሮችን ያጠቃልላል፡፡ እነዚህም፡ - (1ኛ) በኃይል ወይም በማታለል መመልመል (ምልመላ)፣ (2ኛ) በአገር ውስጥ ወይም ወደ ሌላ አገር በህጋዊ ወይም ህገ-ወጥ መንገድ ማዘዋወር (ዝውውር)፣ እና (3ኛ) አዘዋዋሪዎች ተበዳዮችን የገንዘብ ጥቅም ማግኛ ማድረጋቸው (ብዝበዛ) ናቸው፡፡

በሰዎች መነገድ ከሌሎች የሰዎች ዝውውር ክስተቶች ጋር በተለይም ከኢ-መደበኛ የሰዎች ዝውውር እና ከሕገወጥ የድንበር ዝውውር ጋር የሚምታታበት ሁኔታ ይከሰታል፡፡ ይህም የሰዎች ንግድ ተጎጂዎች እንደ ወንጀለኛ የሚታዩበትን ሁኔታ ይፈጥራል፡፡ በአጠቃላይ ሰዎች በአገር ውስጥ ወይም ወደ ውጭ አገር ከቦታ ወደ ቦታ የሚያደርጉት እንቅስቃሴ ወይም ስደት ስራ ፍለጋ፣ ለተሻለ ህይወት፣ መሳደድን በመፍራት፣ ከጭቆና ወይም የተፈጥሮ አደጋ ለመሸሽ ብሎም የመኖሪያ ቦታን ለመቀየር ሲባል ሊካሄድ ይችላል፡፡ በአንፃሩ በሰዎች መነገድ ዓላማው ብዝበዛ ሲሆን ስደተኞች ለዚህ ሁኔታ ተጋላጭ ናቸው፡፡

ከሁለት ዓመታት በፊት በአለም አቀፉ የስደተኞች ድርጅት የተደረገው ጥናት እንደሚያመለክተው በመካከለኛው ምስራቅ አገራት ከሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን መካከል 76.7 በመቶ የሚሆኑት የሕገወጥ የሰዎች ዝውውር ሰለባዎች ናቸው፡፡ በተለይም እድሜያቸው ከ18 አመት በታች ከሆኑት እና ወደተለያዩ የሰሜን አፍሪካና የመካከለኛው ምስራቅ አገራት ስራ ፍለጋና ሌሎች ምክንያቶች ከተጓዙት ኢትዮጵያውያን መካከል 7.5 በመቶ የሚሆኑት እድሜያቸው ከ13 እስከ 17 አመት መሆኑን እና ከነዚህም ውስጥ 87.1 በመቶ የሚሆኑት የሕገወጥ ዝውውር ሰለባዎች እንደነበሩ ሌሎች ጥናቶች አመልክተዋል፡፡ በደቡብ አፍሪካ የኢትዮጵያ ኤምባሲ መረጃዎች እንደሚያመለክቱት በአገሪቱ እስከ 50 ሺህ ኢትዮጵያውያን የሚገኙ ሲሆን እስከ 95 በመቶ የሚሆኑት እዚያ የሚደርሱት በሕገወጥ ደላሎችና አዘዋዋሪዎች በኩል ነው፡፡

The Charities and Societies Proclamation refers to three stages in the coming into operation of charities and societies except charitable committees. These are: formation, registration and licensing. Formation refers to the early stage where the situations necessary for the coming into being of the charity or society as an entity are put into place. The most distinct feature of this stage is that the charity or society does not have legal personality during this stage, which usually takes a period of three months. As such, its capacity to engage in acts with legal consequences (juridical acts) is limited. Most notably, it is limited in its capacity to raise funds. This stage reaches its end either upon registration or when the charity or society ceases to exist for failure to apply for registration.

The next stage in the life of a charity or society is registration which may be considered the most important stage since the very existence of the organization commences with registration. Upon registration, the charity or society acquires legal personality thereby becoming a subject of rights and duties. In other words, the merely formed entity acquires the capacity to engage in acts that have legal consequences such as entering into contracts. For a charity or society this translates into the capacity to start working towards its objectives by engaging staff and implementing activities. Unless the charity is dissolved reasons stipulated by law, it maintains its legal personality for an indefinite period of time.

However, the act of registration and consequent acquisition of legal personality does not enable the charity or society to start realizing its capacity to engage in juridical acts. For that it requires a license. Licensing is the process through which the charity or society gets a certificate permitting it to operate in its identified area of operation and engage in activities/projects designed to achieve its establishment objectives. While the initial license is normally acquired upon fulfillment of legally stipulated conditions, the license certificate has to be renewed periodically.

The subject matter for the current short article is two-fold: the requirements for the renewal of licenses for charities and societies; and, the interplay between these conditions and the conditions set by sector administrators for the signing of project agreements and by donors for funding.

Requirements for Renewal of License

የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅቶችና ማህበራት አዋጅ ከበጎ አድራጎት ኮሚቴ በቀር ለሁሉም የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅቶችና ማህበራት ሦስት የህልውና ደረጃዎችን ያስቀምጣል፡፡ እነዚህም ምስረታ፣ ምዝገባ እና ፈቃድ ናቸው፡፡ ምስረታ የምንለው የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅቱን ወይም ማህበሩን ለመፍጠር አስፈላጊ የሚሆኑበት የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ነው፡፡ የዚህ ደረጃ ዋነኛ መለያው ሶስት ወር ገደማ በሚሆነው በዚህ ጊዜ ውስጥ ድርጅቱ ወይም ማህበሩ ሕጋዊ ሰውነት የሌለውና በሕግ ፊት ውጤት ያላቸውን ተግባራት ለማከናወን ያለው ብቃትም ውሱን መሆኑ ነው፡፡ በተለይም በድርጅቱ ወይም በማህበሩ ስም ገንዘብ የማሰባሰብ ብቃቱ ውሱን ወይም በሕግ የተገደበ ይሆናል፡፡ ይህ የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ድርጅቱ ወይም ማህበሩ ሲመዘገብ ወይም ባለመመዝገቡ ምክንያት ህልውናውን ሲያጣ የሚጠናቀቅ ይሆናል፡፡

የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅቶችና ማህበራት ህልውና ቀጣዩ ደረጃ ምዝገባ ሲሆን ድርጅቱ ወይም ማህበሩ በህግ ፊት እውቅና የሚያገኝበት በመሆኑ ከሶስቱ ደረጃዎች ውስጥ ወሳኝ ተደርጎ ሊወሰድ ይችላል፡፡ አንድ ድርጅት ወይም ማህበር በተመዘገበ ጊዜ ሕጋዊ ሰውነት አግኝቶ በሕግ ፊት ውጤት ያላቸውን ተግባራት ለማከናወን ብቁ ይሆናል፡፡ በሌላ አባባል አንድ በመመስረት ላይ የነበረ ድርጅት ወይም ማህበር ሲመዘገብ ውል መዋዋልን የመሰሉ የሕግ ትርጉም ያላቸውን ተግባራት ማከናወን ይችላል፡፡ ለአንድ የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅት ወይም ማህበር ይህ ማለት ሰራተኞችን በመቅጠር እና ክንውኖችን በመተግበር የተቋቋመበትን ዓላማ ለማስፈፀም የሚያስችል ብቃት በሕግ ፊት ያስገኝለታል ማለት ነው፡፡ የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅቱ ወይም ማህበሩ በሕግ በተቀመጡ ምክንያቶች ካልፈረሰ በቀር ሕጋዊ ሰውነቱን ይዞ ላልተወሰነ ጊዜ ይቆያል፡፡

ይሁን እንጂ ምዝገባ እና ተያይዞ የሚመጣው ሕጋዊ ሰውነት ማግኘት የበጎ አድራጎት ደርጅቱ በሕግ ፊት ውጤት ያላቸውን ተግባራት ለማከናወን ያገኘውን ብቃት እውን ለማድረግ አያበቁትም፡፡ ለዚህ የግድ ፈቃድ ማግኘት አለበት፡፡ ፈቃድ መስጠት ማለት አንድ ደርጅት ወይም ማህበር ባስቀመጠው አካባቢ የተቋቋመበትን ዓላማ ለማስፈጸም ክነውኖችን ወይም ፕሮጀክቶቸን ለመተግበር የሚፈቅድለት ሰርትፍኬት የሚያገኝበት ሂደት ነው፡፡ አንድ ደርጅት ወይም ማህበር በሕግ የተቀመጡ መስፈርቶችን አሟልቶ በተቋቋመ ጊዜ ወዲያውኑ ፈቃድ የሚያገኝ ሲሆን ፈቃዱ በየጊዜው (በየሦስት ዓመት) መታደስ አለበት፡፡

ይህ አጭር ፅሁፍ በሁለት ተዛማጅ ጉዳዮች ላይ ያተኩራል፤ እነዚህም የበጎ አድራጎት ደርጅቶችና ማህበራት ፈቃድ ለማሳደስ ሊሟሉ የሚገባቸው ቅድመ-ሁኔታዎች እና እነዚህ ቅድመ-ሁኔታዎች በዘርፍ አስተዳዳሪዎች የፕሮጀክት ስምምነት ለመፈፀም ከሚጠየቁት መመዘኛዎችና ለጋሾች የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ለመስጠት ከሚያስቀምጧቸው ቅድመ-ሁኔታዎች ጋር ያላቸው ትስስር ናቸው፡፡

ፈቃድ ለማሳደስ ሊሟሉ የሚገባቸው ቅድመ-ሁኔታዎች