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Justice Under Fire

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Justice Under Fire Justice under Fire TRIAls oF opposITIon leAdeRs, JouRnAlIsTs And humAn RIghTs deFendeRs In eThIopIA Amnesty international is a global movement of more than 3 million supporters, members and activists in more than 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the universal declaration of Human rights and other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations. First published in 2011 by Amnesty international Ltd Peter Benenson House 1 easton street London Wc1X 0dW united Kingdom © Amnesty international 2011 index: AFr 25/002/2011 english Original language: english Printed by Amnesty international, international secretariat, united Kingdom All rights reserved. this publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for advocacy, campaigning and teaching purposes, but not for resale. the copyright holders request that all such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, or for reuse in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained from the publishers, and a fee may be payable. to request permission, or for any other inquiries, please contact [email protected] amnesty.org CONTENTS 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................5 1.1 Amnesty International’s concerns ..........................................................................5 1.2 Methodology........................................................................................................6 2. Background..............................................................................................................7 3. Trial narrative .........................................................................................................10 3.1 Defendants and charges .....................................................................................10 Table I: Principal Defendants....................................................................................12 Table IIA: The Charges .............................................................................................15 Table IIB: Groups of Defendants and Charges .............................................................16 First charge – Outrages against the Constitution or the constitutional order.................17 Second charge - Obstruction of the exercise of constitutional powers .........................18 Third charge – Armed rising or civil war ..................................................................18 Fourth charge – Attack on the political or territorial integrity of the state ....................18 Fifth charge – Impairment of the defensive power of the state...................................18 Sixth charge – High treason...................................................................................19 Seventh charge – Genocide ...................................................................................19 Prosecutor’s demand for mandatory death sentences................................................20 Attached charges..................................................................................................20 3.2 Pre-trial proceedings ..........................................................................................21 3.3 The court ..........................................................................................................22 3.4 International observers .......................................................................................23 3.5 Prosecution case ...............................................................................................24 Prosecution documentary evidence ........................................................................ 24 Prosecution witnesses .......................................................................................... 25 3.6 Court ruling on a prima facie case to answer ........................................................ 26 3.7 Preparations for a possible defence..................................................................... 29 3.8 Verdict and convictions...................................................................................... 30 3.9 Sentencing and pardon ...................................................................................... 31 3.10 Defence of Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie ............................................... 31 Prosecution case.................................................................................................. 32 The April 2007 prima facie ruling.......................................................................... 33 Defence case....................................................................................................... 34 Verdict and sentencing ......................................................................................... 35 Remission for good behaviour refused .................................................................... 35 Prosecution appeal............................................................................................... 36 Pardon and release .............................................................................................. 36 4. Amnesty International’s concerns about the trial........................................................ 37 4.1 General features of the proceedings .................................................................... 37 4.2 Specific concerns about the fairness of the trial ................................................... 38 4.2.1 Presumption of innocence and burden of proof .............................................. 39 4.2.2 Admissibility of evidence ............................................................................. 40 4.2.3 Standard of proof........................................................................................ 41 4.2.4 Right to present a defence ........................................................................... 42 4.2.5 Adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence .......................................... 43 4.2.6 Vague crimes, not differentiating non-violent dissent from violence .................. 44 5. Other CUD trials..................................................................................................... 46 5.1 Trial of Kifle Tigeneh and 32 others.....................................................................46 Table III: List of defendants in trial of Kifle Tigeneh and 32 others...............................48 5.2 Trial of Daniel Bayissa Hailemariam and 54 others................................................52 5.3 Trial of Yalemzawd Bekele and two others ............................................................52 6. Treatment of prisoners and prison conditions .............................................................55 6.1 Conditions of Detention for Defendants in the Main CUD Trial................................55 6.2 Torture and ill-treatment of defendants in other trials ............................................59 7. Mediation and Pardon .............................................................................................62 Table IV: Pardon application letter with translation......................................................64 A. Amharic text ....................................................................................................64 B. English translation ..........................................................................................65 8. Commission of Inquiry into the demonstration violence ...............................................67 9. Death penalty .........................................................................................................70 10. Summary of Conclusions........................................................................................71 10.1 Right to fair trial..............................................................................................71 The main CUD trial...............................................................................................71 The trial of Kifle Tigeneh and others.......................................................................73 Other related arrests and trials...............................................................................73 The pardon process ..............................................................................................73 10.2 Right to freedom of expression, assembly and association ....................................74 10.3 Rights of human rights defenders ......................................................................76 10.4 Treatment of prisoners .....................................................................................77 10.5 International standards for commissions of inquiry ..............................................78 10.6 Death penalty..................................................................................................79 10.7 Pardon ........................................................................................................... 80 11. Developments since the trial.................................................................................. 81 12. Recommendations...............................................................................................
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