The Palatability of the Concept Indigenous People in Ethiopian Constitutional System

Mulu Bzayene Lemma

doi:10.7176/jcsd/53-04

Abstract

Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual country. There are more than eighty nations, nationalities and people and more than 200 dialects in the country. Because of this the FRDE Constitution recognizes that every nations, nationalities and people of the country has the right to speak, to write and to develop its own language; to express, to develop and to promote its culture; and to preserve its history as well as the right to free land for grazing and cultivation as well as the right not to be displaced from their own lands but not the right of the indigenous people to own traditional lands, territories and resources their economic and social development and to their very survival as distinct cultural communities. The main objective of this paper is to examine the palatability of the concept indigenous people in Ethiopia Constitutional System. In doing so, legal and scholarly books were reviewed. So, as far as constitution is the supreme law of the country, the palatability of the concept indigenous people in the constitution is essentially important for the observance of the right of the indigenous people in Ethiopia. This paper analyzes that there is no constitutional provision in favor of the recognition of the rights of the indigenous people to own and use land for their survival in Ethiopia. Besides, the government argues that there is not any official statistics that identifies who are indigenous and who are not in the Ethiopia. This paper therefore insists that the concept and the rights of indigenous people in Ethiopian constitutional system are not palatable. Keywords: Indigenous people, Human Rights, Nations, Nationalities and people, Constitution DOI : 10.7176/JCSD/53-04 Publication date: November 30 th 2019

Highlights

Human rights have become the most common and leading international standards to measure all over the activities of human life since the end of Second World War
When we look at the major human rights pertained to indigenous people, as I have mentioned earlier indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination, the right to land and resources, to maintain their cultures, and to be asked for their free, prior and informed consent in decisions
Instead of arguing in favor of the applicability of indigenous people in a states like Ethiopia that comprises more than 80 nation, nationalities and people which have necessarily one and same definition as multiethnic groups and validated them to be the sovereign power of the country

Summary

Introduction

Human rights have become the most common and leading international standards to measure all over the activities of human life since the end of Second World War. Usually new human right issues have been introduced to the international scene like the right to indigenous people. The Declaration on the Right to Indigenous People was formulated for indigenous people in September 2007 This is because of various national and international indigenous peoples’ organizations that mobilize since 1970s, which led to the development of international human rights instruments concerned with the rights of indigenous people. The first international conference of non-governmental organizations on indigenous issues and the NGO Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations were held in Geneva in 1977 and came up with producing a Declaration of Principles for the Defense of the Indigenous Nations and Peoples of the Western Hemisphere, and others.

Objectives

Conclusion