judge turned a deaf ear to the pleas of the Complainants, they could
and should have brought their complaints before the Judicial
Administration Council, a recourse which the State claims was not
sought by the Complainants.
80. The State argues further that the Complainants did not bring their
grievances to the attention of the Judicial Administration Offices and
the Human Rights Commission. According to the State, the
Complainants have not shown that the judicial process was unduly
prolonged and do not show why they did not attempt to exhaust all
these remedies available to them.
81. The State also notes that for local remedies to be exhausted, the
Complaint must have been dealt with by the highest court of the land,
but in the instant case, there is no evidence to show that the
Complainants have submitted a case with the Federal Supreme Court
of Ethiopia. The State however notes that many of the suspects have
just recently brought their cases to the Supreme Court after being
convicted by lower courts and these cases are still awaiting judgment.
The State notes further that with respect to senior government officials
of the Dergue regime, their cases were still being heard in the Federal
High Court Criminal Branch and they still have an opportunity to
appeal to higher courts, if convicted.
82. Regarding the allegation of the Complainants that the process is
unduly long, the State notes that measures have been taken to reduce
the time that will be taken to effectively try the victims to meet
international fair trial standards. It states that it is intended that all the
trials will be completed by the beginning of 2006. The state notes
further that the delay has been caused by both the defence and the
prosecution due to the many witnesses they had.
83. The State claims the remedy sought by the Complainants is beyond the
competence of the Commission, claiming that the latter is being
requested to not only review the ongoing trial process in Ethiopia but
also to instruct Ethiopia on what form of domestic mechanism it
should adopt in prosecuting and trying of persons accused of gross
human rights violations. In particular, the State argues that the
complainants are asking the Commission to order Ethiopia to agree to
the setting up of an international tribunal similar to the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda or the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia. The State notes that different countries have
adopted different approaches in bringing human rights perpetrators to
book, such as the establishment of the truth and reconciliation
commission, international tribunals, etc, but in Ethiopia, the
government has established the Special Prosecutions Offices, making a
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