Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1994
Obligations of the State
  • English
    We, the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia: …
    Firmly convinced that the fulfillment of this objective requires full respect of individual and people’s fundamental freedoms and rights, to live together on the basis of equality and without any sexual, religious or cultural discrimination;
    … (Preamble)
  • Amharic
    እኛ የኢትዮጵያ ብሔሮች፣ …
    ይህን ዓላማ ከግብ ለማድረስ፣ የግለሰብና የብሔር/ብሔረሰብ መሰረታዊ መብቶች መከበራቸው፣ የጾታ እኩልነት መረጋገጡ፣ ባሕሎችና ሃይማኖቶች ካለአንዳች ልዩነት እንዲራመዱ የማድረጉ አስፈላጊነት ጽኑ እምነታችን በመሆኑ
    … (መግቢያ)
Obligations of the State
  • English
    1. Human rights and freedoms, emanating from the nature of mankind, are inviolable and inalienable.
    2. Human and democratic rights of citizens and peoples shall be respected. (Art. 10)
  • Amharic
    1. ሰብዓዊ መብቶችና ነጻነቶች ከሰው ልጅ ተፈጥሮ የሚመነጩ፣ የማይጣሱና የማይገፈፉ ናቸው፡፡
    2. የዜጐች እና የሕዝቦች ሰብዓዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ መብቶች ይከበራሉ፡፡ (አንቀጽ 10)
Obligations of the State
  • English
    1. All Federal and State legislative, executive and judicial organs at all levels shall have the responsibility and duty to respect and enforce the provisions of this Chapter3.
    2. The fundamental rights and freedoms specified in this Chapter shall be interpreted in a manner conforming to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenants on Human Rights and international instruments adopted by Ethiopia. (Art. 13)
  • Amharic
    1. በማንኛውም ደረጃ የሚገኙ የፌዴራል መንግሥትና የክልል ሕግ አውጪ፣ ሕግ አስፈጻሚ እና የዳኝነት አካሎች በዚህ ምዕራፍ የተካተቱን ድንጋጌዎች የማክበርና የማስከበር ኃላፊነትና ግዴታ አለባቸው፡፡
    2. በዚህ ምዕራፍ የተዘረዘሩት መሠረታዊ የመብቶችና የነጻነቶች ድንጋጌዎች ኢትዮጵያ ከተቀበለቻቸው ዓለም አቀፍ የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ሕግጋት፣ ዓለም አቀፍ የሰብዓዊ ስምምነቶችና ዓለም አቀፍ ሰነዶች መርሆዎች ጋር በተጣጣመ መንገድ ይተረጐማል፡፡ (አንቀጽ 13)
Obligations of the State
  • English
    1. The House of Peoples' Representatives shall have the power of legislation in all matters assigned by this Constitution to Federal jurisdiction.

    7. It shall determine the organization of national defence, public security, and a national police force. If the conduct of these forces infringes upon human rights and the nation's security, it shall carry out investigations and take necessary measures.

    16. It shall, on its own initiative, request a joint session of the House of the Federation and of the House of Peoples' Representatives to take appropriate measures when State authorities are unable to arrest violations of human rights within their jurisdiction. It shall, on the basis of the joint decision of the House, give directives to the concerned State authorities.
    … (Art. 55)
  • Amharic
    1. የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት በዚህ ሕገ መንግሥት መሰረት ለፌዴራሉ መንግሥት በተሰጠው ሥልጣን ክልል ሕጐችን ያወጣል፡፡

    7. የፌዴራል መንግሥት፤ የሀገርና የሕዝብ መከላከያ፤ የደህንነትና የፖሊስ ኃይል አደረጃጀት ይወስናል፡፡ በሥራ አፈጻጸም ረገድ የሚታዩ መሠረታዊ የዜጐችን ሰብዓዊ መብቶችና የሀገርን ደህንነት የሚነኩ ጉዳዮች ሲከሰቱ ያጣራል፤ አስፈላጊ እርምጃዎች እንዲወሰዱ ያደርጋል፡፡

    16. በማንኛውም ክልል ሰብዓዊ መብቶች ሲጣሱና ክልሉ ድርጊቱን ማቆም ሳይችል ሲቀር፤ በራሱ አነሳሽነትና ያለክልሉ ፈቃድ ተገቢው እርምጃ እንዲወሰድ ለፌዴሬሽኑ ምክር ቤትና ለሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት የጋራ ስብሰባ ጥያቄ ያቀርባል፤ በተደረሰበት ውሳኔ መሰረት ለክልሉ ምክር ቤት መመሪያ ይሰጣል፡፡
    … (አንቀጽ 55)
1

Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1994 (English). According to Art. 106: “The Amharic version of this Constitution shall have final legal authority.” There are discrepancies in the content of the English and Amharic texts.

2

Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1994 (Amharic). Copy obtained from the Ministry of Justice, Ethiopia.

Links to all sites last visited 6 March 2024
3
Chapter Three on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
4
Chapter Three on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
5
Chapter Three on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.