Class Action Suit against convicted CUD leaders
Should victims and victim families launch a class action suit?
Class Action suit is, “a lawsuit in which a large number of people with similar legal claims join together in a group (the class) to sue someone, usually a company or organization”[1]. The other definition of Class action suit is “A court action in which many people file similar lawsuits and a judge agrees to group them together because of their similar claims.”[2]
I attempted searching the internet if there are any class action suits in Ethiopian history. I failed to find one. What is the purpose of a class action suit? My simple answer is to compensate innocent victims of an ill-conceived decision made by powerful organizations or individuals.
Convicted CUD leaders have paid their price for breaking the law, the Ethiopian constitution but have not paid the price of compensating the victims. These leaders admitted to violating the Ethiopian constitution. They are highly educated who have the knowledge capacity to reason the consequences of their actions. Their actions have caused so many families to loss their loved ones. Not to mention, business owners affected by this and the police officers who died protecting the Ethiopian constitution.
The Convicts have become instant heroes when they went to prison and released from prison. Credits for their release were given to Diaspora supporters, a few congressmen, and Ana Gomez. They have not acknowledged full heartedly, the “Shimagelies” who were the pioneers for their release.
The image of our country is tarnished by these irresponsible and power mongering individuals. And yet, they have forgotten the victims and the victim families. They traveled to the USA to give credits where credit is not due. They stayed in five star hotels, chauffeured in limousine, flied in first class, and gathered funds donated from misinformed but Ethiopia loving individuals. They have gathered enough money and cooked HR2003 as if this bill would guarantee them power sharing with the ruling party. Another insult to the Ethiopian constitution.
Enough is enough. Where are the victim and victim families? What about the police officers who lost their lives? Some may argue that it is the duty of the police officer to protect the Ethiopian constitution and does not have the right to sue convicted CUD leaders for compensation? My argument is that even though the police officers are dead, their families are suffering as a result of ill-conceived decisions made by these leaders. Sadly, there is no a single Article in the Ethiopian constitution clearly stating the rights of the victims.
Interestingly, Article 20-23 of the Ethiopian constitution [3] protects the rights of the accused. Particularly, Article 23 states, “No person shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the criminal law and procedure.” Does this mean that convicted CUD leaders cannot be sued by the victims and victim families for compensation? I will leave this question to Ethiopian lawyers who are interested in representing victims in class action suit.
CUD leaders collected an estimated more than a half a million[4] US dollars from North America, though they have reported only $300,000. The question remains where did the other money go? To finance HR2003 or just simply vanished?
The New York Times has reported that $210,000 dollar was paid to the HR2003 lobbying group by Kinijjit Diaspora supporters[5]. This is just the amount that is officially known. My estimate is that, considering how strongly a few congressmen are pushing for this Bill, is in millions. As we know, 193 civilians and 7 police officers lost their lives after 2005 election riots. Instead of lobbying fat cats in Washington, CUD leaders would have scored political points if they have willingly compensated the victims’ family. The $210,000 would have paid $10,000 to each victim family. I am not suggesting that their lives worth $10,000 but at least to emphasize that something is better than nothing and to indicate the victims must be compensated.
As Ethiopians, we should not always expect our government to uphold the law. We should be part of it by protecting our rights and holding leaders accountable. As victims or victim families, instead of waiting for the government to take action, we should launch a “Class Action Suit” against those who admitted for the wrong doing. The lesson from this would be, I hope, that these leaders or any future leader should be held accountable for any actions they have taken contrary to the Ethiopian constitution.
My article is to raise awareness that victims must be protected by the Ethiopian constitution and compensated accordingly. In the USA or other developed nations, powerful organizations and individuals are being held liable for any actions that could significantly affects the well being of an individual or individuals. In this case, convicted CUD leaders have affected the lives of so many innocent families; therefore, a class action suit is warranted.
“Dir Biyabir Anbessa Yassir.”
Haile B.
Dec 06, 2007
[1] http://www.nolo.com/definition.cfm/Term/E69E06BC-39E9-4E73-AD87A48BBF3B92CA/alpha/C/
[2] http://www.yourdictionary.com/class-action-lawsuit
[3] http://www.ethiopianembassy.org/constitution.shtml
[4] http://www.aigaforum.com/CUD_Accountability_Starts_Now.htm
[5] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/us/politics/04giuliani.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/T/Terrorism