Communication 445/13- Human Rights Council and Others v. Ethiopia
Rapporteur:
Summary of the Complaint
1.
The Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the
Commission) received this complaint at its Secretariat (the Secretariat) on 13 April 2013.
It is submitted by Human Rights Council (HRCO, the first Complainant), a NonGovernmental Organisation registered in the Federal Democratic of Ethiopia. HRCO is
supported by International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights
(INTERIGHTS), which subsequently withdrew from the matter; East and Horn of Africa
Human Rights Defenders Project; CIVICUS; International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH); and Word Organisation Against Torture (the Co-complainants).
2.
The Complaint is submitted against the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
(the Respondent State), a State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’
Rights (the Charter).1
3.
The Complainants state that in January 2009, the Respondent State adopted the
Charities and Societies Proclamation No. 621/2009 (“the CSO Proclamation”). The CSO
Proclamation came into force on 13 February 2009 (the effective date). The law was
promulgated to aid and facilitate the role of Charities and Societies in the overall
development of Ethiopian peoples. Among others, the CSO Proclamation establishes
the Charities and Societies Agency (the CSO Agency), and a Board. Upon coming into
force it required all existing human rights organisations to re-register with the CSO
Agency within one year from the effective date.
4.
Further to the CSO Proclamation, the Respondent State issued several directives
and regulations to facilitate the implementation of the CSO Proclamation. Among them
is the Council of Ministers Regulation for the Registration and Administration of
Charities and Societies (the Council of Ministers Regulations). Article 10(2) of the
Council of Minister Regulations provides that “the effects of re-registration shall
commence only one year after the effective date of the CSO Proclamation and not
immediately after registration.”
1
Ethiopia ratified the African Charter on 15 June 1999
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