amend the Complaint or Communication,
appropriate application for amendment.
the Complainant
can do so by making an
237. In the circumstances the Commission shall not consider the enhanced or additional
reliefs sought by the Complainants set out in the Complainants' submissions. For the
avoidance of doubt in this Communication, the Commission will only consider and
determine the prayers set out in the Complaint or Communication filed by the
Complainants and which have been summarized in paragraph 15 hereof or reproduced
in paragraph 238 hereof.
238. For ease of reference, we reproduce the prayers that the Complainants seek from the
Commission in this Communication are that:
The Complainants
Commission) to:
request the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the
(a) Find the laws, policies and actions challenged' above as violating the rights of the Victims
as well as all Ethiopians; and
(b) Draw the attention of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union
(AU) to the situation in accordance with Article 58 of the African Charter.
239. The Complainants anchor these prayers on the alleged violation of the Articles 4,5,6,
7, 8, 9, 10 and 16 African Charter based on the Respondent State's implementation of the
Anti-Terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009. The Complainants want the Commission to
make a finding that the laws and actions undertaken in the context of the Anti-Terrorism
Proclamation No. 652/2009 as being a violation of the rights of the victims and all
Ethiopians.
240. From the Complainants' prayers aforementioned, it is crystal clear that the bone of
contention in casu is essentially the reasonable justifiability of the Anti-Terrorism
Proclamation No. 652/2009 in relation to Articles 4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and 16 African Charter.
Before addressing all the provisions of the African Charter on which heads of arguments
have been articulated, it is pertinent to point out that neither the Complainants nor the
Respondent State made any submissions on the provision of Article 4 of the African
Charter. This suggests that the allegation on the violation of Article 4 of the African
Charter must be considered to have been indeed abandoned and that the Commission is
therefore entitled to find no violation of Article 4 of the African Charter and it so finds.
241.
Article 5 of the African Charter provides that:
Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being
and to the recognition of his legal status. All forms of exploitation and degradation of man
particularly slavery, slave trade, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and
treatment shall be prohibited.
242.
Article 6 of the Charter provides that: