Approaching Ethnic Cleansing within the Criminal Law of Ethiopia

The status of ethnic cleansing as a punishable act in the international criminal law is being a subject of quarrel. Those who reject its criminal status argue based on the principle of legality while the other group contends, lacking the existence of explicit law, still there is a room to prosecute ethnic cleansing through major international crimes like crime of genocide or crime against humanity. Although, ethnic cleansing is a crucial political and legal discourse in the current Ethiopia, it is not mentioned as a punishable act in its laws. Discovering the criminal status of ethnic cleansing under the criminal law of Ethiopia is the purpose of this paper. Basing on the accompanying crimes particularly the gravity of the offense producing ethnic cleansing and the contextual element required, this paper concludes categorizing ethnic cleansing in the crime of genocide and crime against humanity.