Abstract:
Land remains a valuable asset to the Ethiopian rural population
that constitutes approximately 85 per cent of the total population.
Land and development are inextricably intertwined in developing
agricultural economies such as Ethiopia and the majority of other
African countries. Any meaningful social, economic and cultural
development or self-determination of the people depends on how
land is protected, guarded and defended by those who wield
government powers. The state assumes, under human rights
law, an obligation to respect land and other property rights and
to prevent violations of the people’s rights by third parties and
against property dispossession during internal conflicts. While the
past few months have seen rapid and complex new developments
– literally transforming the landscape of Ethiopian politics – these
developments also bring certain dangers. Prominent among
these are the large-scale internal conflicts and major population
displacements that have caused appalling suffering to hundreds
of thousands of Amhara and Oromo people and other ethnic
groups. It is over three-and-a-half decades since the right to
development gained universal recognition as an inalienable
human right. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
adopted in 1993 firmly underlines the universal recognition
of the right to development. The right to development has also
gained domestic recognition in many African countries, including
Ethiopia, where it is explicitly enshrined in the Federal Constitution
as one of the fundamental rights. Using available literature, this
article examines the implications of displacement from land and
investigates its impacts on the non-realisation of the right to
development by inquiring how displacement and the human right
to development are being pursued in Ethiopia. Considering the
continued displacement from their lands and the implications for
the right to self-determination of the various ethnic groups over
their property, the article advances the argument that, without a
strict adherence to land rights, the 2063 and 2030 agendas for
sustainable development would fail to achieve their purpose in
making living standards better for the vast majority of the people
of Ethiopia.
