Marshet Tadesse Tessema

• PhD (Humboldt University of Berlin)
• PostDoc Position at University of the Western Cape

Criminal accountability as one of the transitional justice mechanisms should be conducted without violating the principle of legality and the fair trial rights of the accused. This presupposes the existence of comprehensive laws at the time the crimes were allegedly committed which incorporate and define the crimes clearly. This chapter analyzes wh...

The Transitional Government of Ethiopia did not turn a blind eye to the violations committed by the Derg regime. No matter how incomplete or incomprehensive the approach(es) it adopted might have been, the Transitional Government made a policy decision to reckon with Derg crimes. This chapter seeks to address the approach(es) that Ethiopia charted...

This book investigates the road map or the transitional justice mechanisms that the Ethiopian government chose to confront the gross human rights violations perpetrated under the 17 years’ rule of the Derg, the dictatorial regime that controlled state power from 1974 to 1991. Furthermore, the author extensively examines the prosecution of politicid...

In recent past, lengthy conflicts that wreaked havoc and caused incalculable human causalities in several African countries came to an end. Likewise, deeply entrenched undemocratic and repressive modes of rule have given way to relatively democratic civilian governments. Regrettably, the African continent is still saddled with conflicts and atrocit...

It is a trite fact that in the recent past decades, Ethiopia has been under a one-party dictatorship. The ruling political party encountered protracted civil protest and at times, an armed struggle. This has led to the overthrow of former party leaders and the dictatorship. The protracted protest against the party has led to change from within the...

The Malabo Protocol expands the jurisdiction of the proposed African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights by adding a criminal division to the planned general affairs and human rights sections. Consequently, the Court will have three sections, namely the General Affairs Section, the Human and Peoples’ Rights Section and the International...

The state of commission has a duty to ensure accountability for the perpetration of horrendous crimes, such as, genocide and crimes against humanity. Following the fall of the military junta in 1991, the Ethiopian government attempted to dispense justice for the egregious crimes that were committed during the reign of the predecessor regime. In fac...

Ethiopia dealt with Derg crimes by resorting to extensive prosecution as a transitional justice mechanism. Similar to some other transitions from a repressive past, the success or otherwise of Ethiopia’s transition from the repressive Derg autocracy is open to debate. The transition has some striking shortcomings; however, this is not the only comm...

This chapter sets the context of the study by briefly introducing the events that led to the replacement of the aristocratic monarchy with the military junta-Derg and the atrocious crimes that followed. It also introduces the approach that Ethiopia charted to reckon with the crimes. Lastly, the chapter presents the objectives of the study and outlo...

This chapter delves into the background to the 1974 popular revolution and the replacement of the aristocratic feudal monarchy with the military dictatorship. It also highlights the first period of the Derg regime, the genesis of the infamous Red Terror and White Terror, how the Derg regime decimated its opponents, and the civil war with the ethnic...

This article aims to explore lawyers’ duty to report suspicious transactions and its compatibility with legal professional privilege, confidentiality duty, and individual right to defense under international initiatives and Ethiopian law. In other words, the article juxtaposes professional confidentiality and reporting duty in order to determine wh...

Corruption has huge detrimental effects, and private-to-private corruption contributes hugely to this detriment. Its consequences match those of public corruption, particularly in the contemporary world, when private entities not only are becoming more influential but also increasingly are engaged in the dispensing of public functions. Hence, to gi...

The paper briefly explicates the AU-ICC relationship.