This thesis critically assesses state-society relationships and challenges to human rights in Ethiopia. The main argument of this thesis is that the state-centred approach to human rights in Ethiopia, introduced by the EPRDF in the post 1991 period, did not resolve the major questions centred on human rights. At the theoretical level, the attempts made to implement human rights in Ethiopia can be related to the claim of the mainstream theoretical perspective of human rights. The mainstream approach to human rights is essentially state-centric because it views the state as the primary agent for the institutionalization of human rights. This claim is based on the widely held notion that the state has the primary obligation in implementing human rights.l This approach involves acceptance of international human rights agreements, their incorporation into domestic laws, and the establishment of human rights institutions, among other things. Within the realm of this state-centred approach, these activities, which have also been undertaken in Ethiopia, are considered as major indications for the implementation of human rights. However, this thesis argues that, in Ethiopia, these undertakings are not reflected in state-society interactions in practice. This problem needs to be explained by examining state-society relationships in Ethiopia from the perspective of different societal groups. The Oromo, as one of the ’nations, nationalities and peoples’ in Ethiopia, workers in the Ethiopian trade unions, and students in state-run educational institutions, are the three groups identified here, and their experiences will be used to examine their relationships with the state in the aftermath of 1991. The information obtained through interviews with the informants drawn from these societal groups is central to the analyses in this thesis, leading to the following major findings or conclusions: First, the analyses in this thesis indicate that the prevailing form of interaction between the state and the society in Ethiopia is characterized by antagonism. The divergence in state interests, policies and strategies form the basis of the antagonistic relationships. Secondly, the closer examination of the problems shows that the questions of human rights, notably ’collective (group) rights’, the right to subsistence, freedom of expression and association, among others, are not resolved because antagonism remains the central feature of state-society relationships. Thirdly, the analyses show that the state-centred discourse of human rights has not contributed to the formation of societal solidarity, and to the creation of space for expression at the societallevel. Nor has it led to the emergence of human rights as an organizing principle and leadership within the society. Finally, the observations drawn from the experiences of different societal groups in Ethiopia profoundly challenged the view that the state is central for the institutionalization of human rights. The analyses also suggested the need for the reappraisal of the state-centred theoretical and methodological basis of human rights. In sum, the study points towards the need for a change in the locus of human rights: a change from the state-centred to society-oriented approaches.

This thesis examines the nature, content and legal implications of the constitutional right to development and investigates its (non-)realization by inquiring how development and human rights are being pursued in Ethiopia. In addressing these issues, this study analytically situates the conception of the right to development as enshrined in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) Constitution within the context of the general human rights and development debates, the normative framework of the right to development as established by the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development (UNDRD) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR). Thus, it discusses the theoretical and moral basis for linking development and human rights and conceptualizing the claim for development as a distinct human right. It further explores the evolution of the right to development into an international human rights norm and addresses its attendant controversies. It subsequently analyses the nature and content of the right to development as established under the UNDRD and ACHPR before engaging with the issues relating to the FDRE Constitution. This research has employed doctrinal and comparative legal research methodologies and also involved critical analysis of policy documents and data from secondary sources. This research finds that the right to development as enshrined in the FDRE Constitution is enunciated in ambiguous terms and asserts that it needs to be understood within the broader constitutional context of Ethiopia which, in conformity with UNDRD and ACHPR, considers development and human rights to be interdependent and mutually reinforcing projects which can only be realized through such interdependence and mutuality. It further submits that the constitutional right to development generally provides a legally binding normative framework within which development processes in Ethiopia should be pursued and puts a constitutional limit on the power of the State as it relates to development undertakings. It, however, identifies that, despite its legally binding nature, the observance of this right is not provided with effective guarantee (enforcement mechanism) as the Ethiopian courts are excluded from enforcing constitutional human rights. This study also claims that the realization of the constitutional right to development has been impeded by the governing ideologies of revolutionary democracy and developmental state which undermine the basic conditions necessary for undertaking development and human rights as interdependent and mutually reinforcing goals of the Constitution. Its review of Ethiopia’s successive development policies reveals the marginal importance given to human rights in general and the two fundamental aspects of the constitutional right to development – the right to active, free and meaningful participation in development and the right to fair distribution of the benefits of development – in particular. Its assessment of Ethiopia’s balance sheet of socio-economic development and human rights in the last decade also attests that development and human rights have been practically disentangled and signals the need for taking the constitutional right to development seriously.