The African Commission,
180.
Declares that the Respondent State has violated both Articles 1
and 2 of the African Charter.
Alleged Violation of Article 7(1)(b) – right to have ones cause heard.
Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter states:
(b) the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty by a competent court
or tribunal;
181.
The Complainants argue that Respondent State has violated the
rights of the former Dergue officials to be presumed innocent until
proved guilty by a competent court or tribunal. It argues that the
presumption of innocence is universally recognized45 and proclaimed
by all major legal systems of the world.46 They state that the
Respondent State violated the right to be presumed innocent enshrined
in Article 7 (1) (b) of the Charter in the following ways:
a. Proclamation No. 22/1992 which provides for the establishment of the
special prosecutors office violates the right to be presumed innocent as
guaranteed in Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter.
b. . statements made by the Respondent State officials during and after
the trial of the Victims violate the violates the right to be presumed
innocent as guaranteed in Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter.
c. Excessive long preventive detention or pre-trial imprisonment is a
violation the the right to be presumed innocent as guaranteed in
Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter.
The African Commision‟s Analysis on Article 7(1)(b)
182.
The Respondent State have not specifically addressed the
allegation that Proclamation No. 22/1992 violated the right to be presumed
innocent as guaranteed in Article 7(1)(b) of the African Charter.
183.
It merely stated that after the Dergue regime was overthrown in
1991, cases had to be instituted in ten federal and regional courts aginst
6000 defendants. It stated that the complexity of bringing all those
responsible for crimes committed during the Dergue regime would be
45
Communication No. 218/98, Civil Liberties Organisation, Legal Defence Centre, Legal Defence and
Assistance Project/ Nigeria, as in n 26 above, paragraphs 40 -41.
46
See Antonio Cassese, page 390. See also UDHR, ACHR, ECHR and the Statutes of the ICTY
(Article 21 (3), the ICTR (Article 20 (3), and the ICC (Article 66).
41