Authored By: Adey Getaneh Negash
Abstract
This article explores how Ethiopia‟s National Transitional Justice Policy (NTJP) tackles gender sensitivity and criminal accountability, particularly in addressing gender-based crimes (GBC) within its broader efforts to prosecute serious human rights violations. It highlights creation of specialized institutions like Transitional Justice Special Bench and the Special Prosecutor‟s Office, which focus on holding most responsible accountable. The article evaluates how well NTJP aligns with international standards for prosecuting GBV. Simultaneously, it points out important gaps, such as the lack of gender-sensitive investigative methods and inadequate protections for survivors. Additionally, it looks at efforts to ensure women have meaningful roles in transitional justice processes. The article concludes by recommending stronger legal definitions, adoption of quota and better procedural protections to make gender sensitive justice in Ethiopia‟s post-conflict recovery.
Key words: Ethiopia Transitional Justice Policy, Gender Sensitivity, Gender-Based Crimes, Accountability Mechanism, Quota,
Introduction
In Ethiopia, many women continue to bear the profound and painful effects of conflict and political turmoil. Since late 2020, armed clashes, particularly in the northern regions, have led to a disturbing surge in GBV, including brutal acts such as group rape and sexual slavery used as weapons of war. These systematic abuses reveal deeply ingrained patterns of violence that extend far beyond isolated incidents.1 Women face not only physical trauma but also systemic barriers that limit their access to justice, reparations, and full participation in societal recovery.
This stark reality underscores the urgent need for gender sensitivity within Ethiopia‟s transitional justice efforts mechanisms designed to address past atrocities, promote accountability, and foster national healing. Transitional justice encompasses a wide range of judicial and non-judicial processes that societies use to come to terms with legacies of large scale human rights violations and to achieve justice and reconciliation.2
The concept of transitional justice began after downfall of Derg regime in 1991, when Transitional Government established the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute human rights abuses committed during that era. This marked the country‟s first concrete attempt to address past crimes through legal accountability.3 However, these early efforts lacked gender-sensitive focus and often failed to address the specific needs of survivors, particularly women.
The recent conflict in Northern Ethiopia painfully exposed this further, with reports revealing at least 10,000 women and girls subjected to rape and sexual violence, alongside extrajudicial killings and forced displacement.4 Responding to this, Ethiopia introduced the National Transitional Justice Policy in April 2024, marking major shift. The NTJP explicitly recognizes GBC as gross human rights violations that require both judicial prosecution and comprehensive justice.5
Today, it‟s crucial that transitional justice systems fully recognize and respond to unique ways women experience conflict-related violence. Addressing these gendered harms is essential to breaking the cycle of impunity. For justice to be real and lasting, processes must be inclusive, victim-centered, and responsive to gendered dimensions of violence. 6This article explores how well NTJP meets these goals and recommends ways to make justice more equitable and survivor-focused.
Criminal Accountability and Institutional Framework in the NTJP
Ethiopia‟s NTJP establishes structured and institutionally integrated approach to criminal accountability, emphasizing prosecution core of transitional justice. It designates gross human rights violations committed in “systematic, widespread, or patterned manner,” including genocide, crimes against humanity, rape and other GBV, extrajudicial killings, torture, and crimes against children and persons with disabilities.7The temporal scope spans violations committed from 1995.
The NTJP recognize the establishment of Special Bench, structured within federal court. This Special Bench operates across three tiers: first-instance chamber within Federal High Court, an appellate chamber in Federal Supreme Court, and cassation bench for final appeals.8This ensures expert handling of on holding those most responsible for gross human rights violations accountable, ligned with international standards.9
Alongside, Special Prosecutor‟s Office (SPO) established separately from existing investigation and prosecution institutions, 10 to investigating and prosecuting “Most Responsible Perpetrators” (MRPs) those planned or enabled systemic abuse.11 By focusing on MRPs, SPO aims to dismantle systemic impunity without bogged down in low-level offenders. The SPO collaborates with existing justice institutions to ensure justice.
Recognition and Prosecution Gender Based Crimes
Accountability must acknowledge distinct experiences of violence faced by women and girls during conflict and political upheaval by ensuring the prosecution of gender based crimes and facilitating participation of women in all aspects of justice processes. International norms require transitional justice process to recognize and address the specific ways in which women experience violence and marginalization. The UN Secretary General‟s Guidance Note on UN Approach to Transitional Justice emphasizes that accountability processes must:
⮚ Recognize and prosecute GBCs as distinct and serious violations;
⮚ Ensure the participation of women at all levels of the justice process; ⮚ Provide for witness protection and survivor-centered procedures;
⮚ Address the structural and cultural barriers that inhibit women‟s access to justice.12
GBV, defined under international law as acts causing physical, sexual, or psychological harm rooted in gendered power imbalances.13 The ICC Statute explicitly criminalizes rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and other forms of sexual violence as war crimes14 and crimes against humanity.15 According to, the ICC‟s 2023 Policy on Gender
Based Crimes, GBV classified into sexual violence and reproductive violence.16 It expands the definition to include non-sexual acts like forced sterilization when they target individuals based on gender or reproductive roles.
The 4th Geneva Convention on protection of civilian person in time of war explicitly prohibits GBV women must be protect from against any attack on their honour, in particular against rape, and enforced prostitution.17 The Maputo Protocol also obliges African countries to prosecute perpetrators of violence against women. The policy stipulate in general manner by recognizing as gross human right violation.18 Ethiopia member of Geneva Conventions and the protocol is expected to protect and respect human rights during war.
The Revised Criminal Code introduced progressive reforms by criminalizing harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, early marriage, and marital violence alongside rape, and trafficking.19 Chapter III of the Code, which targets practices causing harm to health and life, is particularly relevant to women and girls, as it addresses culturally entrenched violations like abduction and forced prostitution.20 The Code doesn‟t categorize conflict related GBV like forced sterilization aimed reducing ethnic birth-rates as genocide or crimes against humanity, limiting prosecutors‟ reach.
However, the Code‟s failure to explicitly criminalize conflict-related GBV such as insertion of objects into reproductive organs, public rapes to humiliate families, or deliberate targeting of women‟s reproductive capacity to suppress ethnic populations leaves survivors without legal recourse. Forced sterilization and reproductive coercion have been documented in Tigray and Amhara region, highlighting the need for more inclusive framework. 21 In Gambella, women were killed to escalate conflict and undermine an entire tribe.22 These acts, which could be crimes against humanity or genocide, remain inadequately addressed under Ethiopia‟s domestic laws, creating accountability gaps.
Recognizing conflict-related GBV such as reproductive coercion, forced sterilization, and public sexual humiliation as crimes against humanity or genocide is essential. However, Article 15 of the Rome Statute limits retroactive prosecution since it bars criminalizing acts that weren‟t already recognized under international law when committed.23
Certain forms of GBV like rape, sexual slavery, and systematic sexual violence during armed conflict are established as war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide under international law.24 These grave violations are considered jus cogens norms, meaning they can be prosecuted retrospectively, as seen in landmark cases like Prosecutor v Akayesu.25 For instance, sexual violence in Ethiopia‟s Tigray conflict is recognized as both a war crime and crime against humanity under customary international law.26
Yet, other types of GBV such as forced sterilization, female genital mutilation, some domestic violence, and economic or psychological abuse don‟t have this universal jus cogens status. While condemned by treaties like CEDAW and the Rome Statute, they lack the same non-derogable standing as prohibitions against torture or slavery.27
Considering that NTJP limits criminal accountability to violations since 1995, the new International Crimes Proclamation must balance delivering justice with respecting principle of legality. It should avoid retroactive prosecutions that breach non-retroactivity while aiming to comprehensively cover serious violations committed since 1995.
NTJP does not mandate gender-sensitive investigative protocols, such as trauma-informed interviewing or specialized GBV units, leaving survivors vulnerable to retraumatization during legal processes.
Gender Mainstreaming and representation
The policy underscores the essential importance of gender mainstreaming as guiding principle in the transitional justice process. It establishes comprehensive framework designed to ensure proportional representation and meaningful participation of women at every stage, from pre-preparation through to full implementation. 28 This provision encompasses establishing accountability mechanisms that facilitate women’s active involvement in accountability, including formulating laws related to prosecution, investigating, and punishment and recruitment of women investigators, prosecutor, and judges in special prosecution office and special bench.
The policy highlights how vital it is to include women in hiring and appointment processes for investigators, prosecutors, and judges in special prosecution office and courts.29 Making gender representation top priority in recruitment is essential for ensuring that women‟s perspectives are genuinely women into the transitional justice system. To make this happen, it‟s crucial that laws put in place set specific and adequate quotas for women‟s representation, instead of relying on vague promises.30
International best practices show that having at least a 30% quota is widely seen as the “critical mass” needed for women to truly influence decision-making and shape institutional culture, rather than just being there as tokens. 31 This benchmark is backed by global initiatives like the Beijing Platform for Action, which stresses the importance of empowering women and involving them in decision-making processes.32 Studies shown that when women make up at least 30 percent of group, their involvement becomes more meaningful, leading to outcomes that are more sensitive to gender issues and ultimately more effective.33
The adoption of quota helps to guarantee the transitional justice processes would inclusive, responsive, legitimate, and to effectively address GBV and other challenges that disproportionately impact women. Additionally, the policy and related frameworks required to promote initiatives that aim to surpass the 30 % mark, striving for gender parity and ideally reaching a 50/50 balance.34
It is important that quotas are complemented by capacity-building initiatives and institutional reforms to support women‟s meaningful engagement, rather than relying solely on numerical targets.35 This comprehensive approach is vital to overcoming historical patterns of exclusion and unlocking the potential for transformative gender inclusion within Ethiopia‟s justice system.
Procedural Safeguards and Evidentiary Rules on Gender based Crimes
The policy acknowledges the importance of protecting witnesses and survivors as one of guiding principle of Transitional justice process, recognizing need for special measures to prevent additional victimization and harm. 36 This principle aligns with the UN Basic Principles on the Right to Remedy and Reparation, which emphasize the obligation of states to safeguard survivors and witnesses, particularly in cases of sexual violence. International best practices, as outlined by UN Women and the Democratic Progress Institute, advocate for strong witness protection measures, trauma-informed procedures, and elimination of evidentiary practices that may retraumatize survivors or undermine their testimony based on gender stereotypes. The policy states that comprehensive framework will be established to protect and support survivors and witnesses who testify against the most responsible 33 UN Women, Women‟s Meaningful Participation in Transitional Justice (2022) P 71, https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/Research-paper-Womens-meaningful-participation-in transitional-justice-en.pdf accessed 21 August 2025.
perpetrators, ensuring that they are shielded from retaliatory measures.37 However, policy’s commitment to witness protection lacks sufficient detail and enforceability, which undermines ability of survivors of sexual violence to testify without fear of reprisal.
In sexual violence cases, prosecution and courts must follow the following specific principles:
⮚ Consent can’t be assumed based on what survivor says or does if their ability to give free and genuine consent was compromised by force, threats, coercion, or a coercive environment.
⮚ Consent should never be taken for granted, especially if survivor is unable to provide true consent.
⮚ A survivor’s silence or lack of resistance shouldn‟t be interpreted as consent to alleged sexual violence.
⮚ The credibility, character, or perceived sexual availability of a survivor or witness cannot be judged based on their prior or subsequent sexual conduct.38
Rule 71 clearly protects survivors by banning any evidence about their past or future sexual behavior. 39 It also makes it clear that silence or lack of resistance does not imply consent, ensuring survivors are treated with respect and fairness.
The NTJP recognizes need of procedural and evidence laws in holding perpetrators of sexual violence accountable. 40 However, it falls in incorporating essential safeguards from international criminal law designed to protect survivors during investigations and trials. Notably, policy doesn‟t clearly clarify who bears burden of proof in establishing genuine consent whether it is survivor or accused. Rather on cross-cutting issues provision, it set general expression by saying “the procedural and evidence laws used for prosecution and investigation shall be implemented in manner that ensures those responsible for sexual violence are held accountable. “41
In most criminal cases, burden of proof typically falls on survivors, which can be particularly challenging in cases of GBV. Recognizing distinctive characteristics of conflict-related GBV, it is often difficult for survivors to provide evidence. The policy fails recognize this flexible procedure, similar approached to corruption cases, where responsibility shifts to accused to demonstrate innocence.42
This lack of clarity, combined with absence of protective measures, increases risk of secondary victimization and may deter survivors from seeking justice. While NTJP offers general framework, it is vital that implementing laws address these gaps by integrating strong procedural safeguards. Such measures are essential to ensure that survivors of sexual and GBV can pursue justice without fear of further harm.
Conclusion
Since 2020, Ethiopian women have suffered deeply from conflict, facing widespread GBV like mass rape and sexual slavery used as weapons of war. These abuses show systemic patterns, with survivors struggling not only with trauma but also barriers to justice and healing. Recognizing this, NTJP, launched in April 2024, explicitly labels GBC as serious human rights violations needing prosecution and comprehensive justice.
The NTJP creates a Special Bench within federal courts to handle these crimes expertly, plus Special Prosecutor‟s Office focused on holding Most Responsible Perpetrators accountable. For justice to truly work, transitional justice must be survivor-centered, inclusive, and responsive to how women uniquely experience conflict violence key to breaking cycles of abuse and fostering lasting healing.
Recommendation
To effectively advance gender sensitivity and accountability within Ethiopia‟s transitional justice process, the following key recommendations should be prioritized:
∙ The International Crimes Proclamation should explicitly define all conflict-related GBV, including forced sterilization, public rape, and sexual slavery, with aggravated penalties for acts involving public humiliation.
∙ Specialized gender-based crimes units within SPO and Special Bench must be created, staffed by trained experts using survivor-centered investigation and evidence protocols.
∙ The forthcoming law should adopt at least 30% women‟s representation in all transitional justice entities to ensure diverse, fair perspectives.
∙ Laws must guarantee survivor and witness protections.
∙ Public awareness campaigns on GBV and gender sensitivity.
Reference(S):
International and Regional Laws
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (adopted 18 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13 (CEDAW) Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (4th Geneva Convention) 12 August 1949,
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (adopted 17 July 1998, entered into force 1 July 2002) 2187 UNTS 90
International Criminal Court, „Policy on Gender-Based Crimes‟ (December 2023) The Rules of Procedure and Evidence, The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, First session, New York, 3 -10 September 20 02 ( ICC-A SP/1/3 and Corr.1), part II.A, rule 70
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples‟ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) (adopted 11 July 2003, entered into force 25 November 2005) UN Women, Beijing+15: Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (2010). Para 181
Ethiopia Laws and Policy
The House of People Representatives of Ethiopia, National Transitional Justice Policy of Ethiopia (2024).
Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Proclamation No 414/2004) Journal
Jeremy Sarkin, “Transitional Justice and the Prosecution Model: The Experience of Ethiopia”, Africa Journals online, Vol.3 No.2, (1999) p 255
Network of Ethiopian Women‟s Associations (NEWA), Policy Brief: Toward a Gendered Transitional Justice Policy (2024)
Website
UN Secretary-General, ‘Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-Conflict States: Transitional Justice’ (2006) https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/TJ_Guidance_Note_March_2009.pdf accessed 20 August 2025
Voice of America, „UN Experts: Conflict in Ethiopia Left Over 10,000 Survivors of Sexual Violence‟ (VOA News, 2023) https://www.voanews.com/a/un-experts-conflict-in-ethiopia left-over-10-000-survivors-of-sexual-violence
ISS Today, `Ethiopia‟s Transitional Justice Special Bench` (2025) https://issafrica.org/iss today/ethiopia-s-transitional-justice-special-bench-more-than-just-a-criminal-tribunal United Nations, „Guidance Note of the Secretary-General: Transitional Justice as a Strategic Tool for People, Prevention and Peace‟ (June 2023)
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/transitionaljustice/sg-guidance note/2023_07_guidance_note_transitional_justice_en.pdf
UN Women, Women‟s Meaningful Participation in Transitional Justice (2022) https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/Research-paper-Womens-meaningful participation-in-transitional-justice-en.pdf
Human Rights Watch, „Q&A: Justice for Serious International Crimes Committed in Ethiopia‟ (4 September 2023)https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/04/qa-justice-serious international-crimes-committed-ethiopia
Case
Prosecutor v Akayesu (Judgment) ICTR-96-4-T (2 September 1998).
Report
UN and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by All Parties in the Tigray Region (2021) UN & EHRC.
1 UN and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by All Parties in the Tigray Region (2021) UN & EHRC
2 UN Secretary-General, ‘Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-Conflict States: Transitional Justice’ (2006) https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/TJ_Guidance_Note_March_2009.pdf accessed 20 August 2025 3Jeremy Sarkin, “Transitional Justice and the Prosecution Model: The Experience of Ethiopia”, Africa Journals online, Vol.3 No.2, (1999) p 255
4Voice of America, „UN Experts: Conflict in Ethiopia Left Over 10,000 Survivors of Sexual Violence‟ (VOA News, 2023) https://www.voanews.com/a/un-experts-conflict-in-ethiopia-left-over-10-000-survivors-of-sexual violence accessed 20 August 2025.
5The House of People Representatives of Ethiopia, National Transitional Justice Policy of Ethiopia (2024). 6 UN Women, Women‟s Meaningful Participation in Transitional Justice (2022) https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/Research-paper-Womens-meaningful-participation-in transitional-justice-en.pdf accessed 21 August2025
7 NTJP (2024), art. 2.1.1
8 NTJP (2024), art. 2.1.4
9ISS Today, `Ethiopia‟s Transitional Justice Special Bench` (2025) https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ethiopia-s transitional-justice-special-bench-more-than-just-a-criminal-tribunal Accessed 20 August, 2025
10 NTJP (2024), art. 2.1.3
11 NTJP (2024), Glossary 2
12 United Nations, „Guidance Note of the Secretary-General: Transitional Justice as a Strategic Tool for People, Prevention and Peace‟ (June 2023) https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/transitionaljustice/sg-guidance note/2023_07_guidance_note_transitional_justice_en.pdf accessed 20 August 2025.
13 International Criminal Court, „Policy on Gender-Based Crimes‟ (December 2023) Para 28 https://www.icc cpi.int/sites/default/files/2023-12/2023-policy-gender-en-web.pdf accessed 20 August 2025
14ICC Statute, art 8(2) (b)(xxii)); Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (adopted 17 July 1998, entered into force 1 July 2002) 2187 UNTS 90.
15 (ICC Statute, art 7(1)(g)); Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (adopted 17 July 1998, entered into force 1 July 2002) 2187 UNTS 90.
16 International Criminal Court, „Policy on Gender-Based Crimes‟ (December 2023) Para 42 https://www.icc cpi.int/sites/default/files/2023-12/2023-policy-gender-en-web.pdf accessed 20 August 2025
17Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (4th Geneva Convention) 12 August 1949, art 27.
18 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples‟ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo
Protocol) (adopted 11 July 2003, entered into force 25 November 2005) art 4(2)(c).
19 Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Proclamation No 414/2004) art 565 ff. 20 Ibid
21 Joint report Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed in by All Parties in the Tigray Region of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia(2021)
22Network of Ethiopian Women‟s Associations (NEWA), Policy Brief: Toward a Gendered Transitional Justice Policy (2024) P8 Available at https://newaethiopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Policy-Brief-Gender focused-English.pdf
23ICC Statute, art 15; Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (adopted 17 July 1998, entered into force1 July 2002) 2187 UNTS 90.
24 Human Rights Watch, „Q&A: Justice for Serious International Crimes Committed in Ethiopia‟ (4 September 2023)https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/04/qa-justice-serious-international-crimes-committed-ethiopia accessed 20 August 2025.
25 Prosecutor v Akayesu (Judgment) ICTR-96-4-T (2 September 1998).
26 UN and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by All Parties in the Tigray Region (2021) UN & EHRC.
27 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (adopted 18 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13 (CEDAW); Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (adopted 17 July 1998, entered into force 1 July 2002) 2187 UNTS 90
28 NTJP (2024), art. 1.5.8
29 NTJP (2024), art. 2.1
30 UN Women, Women‟s Meaningful Participation in Transitional Justice (2022) P 71, https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/Research-paper-Womens-meaningful-participation-in transitional-justice-en.pdf accessed 20 August 2025.
31 Ibid
32 UN Women, Beijing+15: Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (2010). Para 181
34 Network of Ethiopian Women‟s Associations (NEWA), Policy Brief: Toward a Gendered Transitional Justice Policy (2024)
35 UN Women, Women‟s Meaningful Participation in Transitional Justice (2022) P 27, https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/Research-paper-Womens-meaningful-participation-in transitional-justice-en.pdf accessed 21 August2025.
36 NTJP (2024), art. 1.5.2 and 2.1.2
37 NTJP (2024), art. 2.1.2
38 The Rules of Procedure and Evidence, The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Cour t, First session,
New York, 3 -10 September 20 02 ( ICC-A SP/1/3 and Corr.1), part II.A, rule 70
39 Ibid, rule 71
40 NTJP (2024) art.2.9
41 Ibid
42 Network of Ethiopian Women‟s Associations (NEWA), Policy Brief: Toward a Gendered Transitional Justice Policy (2024)
