has not contributed to slowing down the proceedings, the delay in the proceedings can be only attributed to the Respondent State. they argue that the long and unnecessary delay in the Dergue Trials was occasioned by the inactivity and failure of the Respondent State to proceed with the trials with the diligence required and without undue delay. 158. They conclude that the Victims were entitled to have their case decided expeditiously and with priority by the national authorities. They urge the African Commission to find for the Victims that the length of time for which they had been held in custody pending trial and the number of years it took for the trial court to come up with a judgment on the merits to be excessive and unreasonable in the light of the Respondent State‟s constitutional principles and international commitments. This they say is in line with national and international jurisprudence, including that of the African Commission, on the matter. Respondent State’s Submissions on the Merits 159. The Respondent State for its part, argues that local remedies are yet to be exhausted. It argues that the Complainants have not yet completed the local remedies available to them and therefore submit that it is sufficient ground for dismissing the Communication. 160. The Respondent State further alleges that there is no conflict between the Penal Code of Ethiopia and the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishments of the Crime of Genocide. It argues that the Complainant have made a lengthy argument regarding a conflict between Article 281 of the Penal Code of Ethiopia and the 1948 International Convention on the Prevention and Punishments of Crimes of Genocide to which Ethiopia is party and argue that their acts would not constitute a criminal act. 161. The Respondent State further argues that firstly, the Complainants were wrong in arguing that political crimes should be seen as out of the purview of the Conventions as the Conventions do not prohibit anywhere in its provisions the inclusion of broader definitions under national laws. It underlines the fact that from the outset, the Penal Code was issued in 1957 well before the Dergue came to power and was not targeting any specific political or other group of Dergue Regime. 162. Secondly, the Respondent State underlines the fact that the Dergue officials have not denied that they have extra-judicially killed and harmed innocent civilians and that they were committing the crimes in violation of the existing criminal law to stay in power. It is worth 36