Department of Computer Science

Assignment # 4

Mihretab tegene 314,21

1. Constitution has five the distinctive features. What are the advantage and disadvantage of
these futures?
 Generality: a constitution provides the general principle of a state and carry on
foundation and sets out general framework of the law and the government.
 Permanency: unlike laws constitution is made for undefined period of time. That means
constitution serve for a long lap of ages. It is purposely made to be stable and permanent.
It is made to be stable, i.e., not to be worked upon by the temper of the times or to rise or
fall with the occasional events.
 Supremacy: Constitutions are laws about the political procedures to be followed in
making laws. They are supreme laws, taking precedence over all others, and defining
how all the others should be made.
 Codified document: Constitutions are written down; often in a single document that
presents the constitution in a systematic manner.
 Allocation of powers: Constitutions outline the proper relations between institutions and
offices of the state, and between government and citizens.

2. What are the similarities and difference of the 1931, 1955, 1987 and 1995 Ethiopian
constitutions? Explain them briefly?
.
o Traditional Constitution (Pre- 1931):- it was traditional and unwritten
constitution
o The 1931 First Written Constitution:- was the first modern constitution of the
Ethiopian empire, intended to officially replace the fetha nagast, which had been
the supreme low since the middle ages. It was promulgated in “an impressive
ceremony” held 16 July 1931 in the presence of emperor haile Selassie who had
long desired to proclaim one for his country.
o The Revised Constitution of 1955:- emperor haile selassei proclaimed a revise
constitution I November 1955 of the Ethiopian empire. This constitution was
promoted like its 1931 predecessor by a concern with international opinion.
o The 1987 Constitution of People’s Democratic Republic Ethiopia (PDRE) :-
was third constitution of Ethiopia and went to effect on 22 February of that year
o The 1995 (FDRE) Constitution:-the constitution came into force on august 21
1955 after it was elected in June 1994. It was adopted by December 1994 and
come into force general election held in May-June 1995.
 3. What are the major challenges of democratization process in Ethiopia in the last five
years?
o Lack of Peace and security
o Instability
o Lack of CSO organizations
o Lack of unity

4. What is human right? Describe the evolution of these rights in Ethiopia especially in the
last thirty years? What are the achievements and missed opportunities explain them
briefly?

During Emperor Haile Selassie's reign, laws began to be systematically codified, allowing for the
enactment of Ethiopia's first two constitutions: the Constitution of 1931 and the Revised Constitution of
the Empire of Ethiopia of 1955, as well as six Codes that remain fundamental to Ethiopia's laws today.
However, both the 1931 Constitution and the 1955 Constitution systematized the power of the
Emperor, leaving out what rights and freedoms his subjects should possess.

After overthrowing Selassie in 1974, Major Mengistu Haile Marium established a military dictatorship
that subjected its political opponents to "arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, enforced
disappearances and extra-judicial execution." Five years later, Mengistu began the Derg's planned
transition to a civil government, forming a Commission for the Establishment of the Worker's Party in
1979 and declaring a socialist republic, led by the Worker's Party of Ethiopia, in 1984. In 1987, the
Constitution of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE Constitution) formally dissolved the
Derg and inaugurated the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE), a Marxist–Leninist one-party
state that was dominated by the military and former Derg members. The PDRE Constitution outlined
basic rights and freedoms, including freedom of speech, press, and assembly; freedom of conscience
and religion; and the rights of the accused and arrested. Due to the PDRE's socialist ideology, the PDRE
Constitution emphasized socioeconomic and cultural rights, such as the right to free education; the right
to healthcare; and the freedom to participate in science, technology, and the arts. However, the same
rights established in the PDRE Constitution were violated by Mengistu's military state.

Mengistu's authoritarian military regime faced organized opposition for all of its fourteen years of rule.
Opposition groups including the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP), a rival Marxist–Leninist
group, and the Tigray-based Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, a coalition of ethnic
democratic forces, led armed resistance to the Derg in a conflict known as the Ethiopian Civil War. The
Derg used violence, commonly enacted through military campaigns, to suppress dissidents. In 1976, the
Derg instigated the Qey Shibir (Ethiopian Red Terror), a violent political repression campaign targeting
the EPRP.Under Mengistu's leadership, the Derg did not only rely on state personnel to carry out the
Qey Shibir; it also armed militias and civilian supporters and granted "genuine revolutionaries and
patriots" impunity, further localizing state violence. The Qey Shibir resulted in 50,000 fatalities.[11] In
addition, many victims of the Qey Shibir were subjected to torture, exile, and sexual assault. The Qey
Shibir and the 1983-1985 famine, an event partly created and exacerbated by the government's military
policies, increased popular support for the EPRDF, which successfully overthrew Mengistu's regime in
1991.

The EPRDF took power in 1991 with the promise of a transitional program that would rehabilitate those
negatively impacted by the previous regime, promote democracy, and recognize and protect human and
minority group rights. The Transitional Period Charter, which was adopted during the post-war
conference in 1991, officially established a transitional government. Drawing from the United Nations'
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1 of the Charter guaranteed basic rights and civil liberties,
specifically freedom of expression, association, and assembly; freedom of conscience; and the right to
"unrestricted" political participation and party organization, "provided the exercise of such right does
not infringe upon the rights of others." The Charter also addressed the state of interethnic relations in
Ethiopia. Article 17 of the Charter stated that the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) would work
to deescalate ethnic conflict as it led the country toward a full democracy. Article 2 proclaimed the
rights of ethnic groups in Ethiopia, which are officially referred to as nations or nationalities. Among the
rights granted to all Ethiopian "nations, nationalities, and peoples" was the right to self-determination,
including the right to secede.

In 1994, the EPDRF adopted the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which
came into effect following the 1995 general election. Following the blueprint laid out by the Transitional
Period Charter, the 1995 Constitution established an ethnic federal system. Like the Charter, the 1995
Constitution draws from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights while also establishing protections
of group rights. Articles 14 through 44 of the 1995 Constitution codify "fundamental rights and
freedoms," with Articles 14 through 28 pertaining to "human rights" and articles 29 through 44
establishing "democratic rights."

In April 2018, Abiy Ahmed became Prime Minister and promised multiple reforms in terms of human
rights. In 2018, his government freed thousands of political prisoners, lifted the state of emergency,
ended the Eritrean–Ethiopian War, selected a new cabinet among which half the ministers were women,
and appointed a woman judge, Birtukan Mideksa, as the head of the National Election Board of Ethiopia
(NEBE).