the jurisdictions of the Federal High Court and of the First-Instance Courts are hereby delegated to the
State courts.
3. States shall establish State Supreme, High and First-Instance Courts. Particulars shall be determined by
law.
4. Special or ad hoc courts which take judicial powers away form the regular courts or institutions legally
empowered to exercise judicial functions and which do not follow legally prescribed procedures shall not be
established.
5. Pursuant to sub-Article 5 of Article 34 the House of Peoples' Representatives and State Councils can
establish or give official recognition to religious and customary courts. Religious and customary courts that
had state recognition and functioned prior to the adoption of the Constitution shall be organised on the
basis of recognition accorded to them by this Constitution.
of the Respondent State's Constitution guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary, it is perceived by
individuals both at home and abroad that the executive has considerable and even undue influence on the
judiciary.
36. The Complainant quoted a World Bank Report entitled Ethiopia: Legal and Judicial Sector Assessment
(2004) which concluded that "... of the three branches of government, the judiciary has the least history and
experience of independence and therefore requires significant strengthening to obtain true independence".
According to the Complainant, the Report notes that the interference in the judiciary is more flagrant at
State level where there are reports of administrative officers interfering with court decisions, firing judges,
dictating decisions to judges, reducing salaries of judges and deliberately refusing to enforce certain
decisions of the courts.
37. The Complainant also alleges that bringing the case before Ethiopian courts would unduly prolong the
process as the Ethiopian judiciary suffers from a complex system of multiple courts that lack coordination
and resources, including "dismal conditions of service, staff shortages, lack of adequate training,
debilitating infrastructure and logistical problems". The Complainant claims court proceedings take years to
yield results, and concluded that the Respondent State's judicial system is so under resourced that
prosecutions would be nearly impossible, noting that to date, no action had been taken to prosecute any of
the Ethiopian Defence Forces or government officials for the atrocities they committed against the Anuak.
38. The Complainant also alleges that the Anuak fear for their safety in bringing the case in Ethiopia adding
that there are no Anuak trained as lawyers who could bring the case before Ethiopian courts. The
Complainant notes that the overwhelming sentiment in the Gambella Region and of the Anuak who have
fled the country is that non-Anuak lawyers within Ethiopia would be unwilling to take the case due to the
potential persecution they would face, as well as the insurmountable odds of achieving a just remedy. The
Complainant added that Anuak who remain in the Gambella Region continue to suffer from extra-judicial
executions, torture, rape and arbitrary detention from the authorities of the Respondent State adding that
several of them have been threatened and warned specifically against pursuing a case against the
Respondent State. The Complainant noted that as recently as January 2005, the Respondent State
threatened Anuak leaders, declaring that anyone attempting to tarnish the reputation of the Respondent
State would be dealt with. The Complainant concluded by stating that to bring the case within the
Respondent State would only further endanger the lives of the remaining Anuak in the Ethiopia.
39. The Complainant added that the Respondent State had been given notice and adequate time to
remedy the human rights violations against the Anuak but has utterly failed to do so. That the Respondent
State received notice of the violations but chose not to take action to halt the atrocities or to make its forces
accountable. The Complainant added that the Respondent State's response to the massacres in December
2003 in the Gambella Region was inadequate and disingenuous. That under international pressure, the
Respondent State established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the killings, however, according to the
Complainant, the inquiry was biased and ineffectual and did not meet international standards of an
independent investigation.
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