41 | P age b full redress as it allows the violators to go unpunished and denies victims full assurance of their rights under article The HRC, inconsideration of the fourth periodic reports of US expressed its concerns that victims of torture are notable to claim compensation from state party and its officials due to the broader application of … immunity.‟ 195 Regarding domestic officials the supreme law of the land, FDRE Constitution, does not include immunities under its article 28 which provides that perpetrators of torture will not be exempted from criminal liability through amnesty, pardon and statute of limitation. Conversely, the Constitution grants immunity for some categories of government officials. Accordingly, the constitution provides that members of the House of Peoples Representatives (HPR) and House of Federation (HOF) are not subject to prosecution for the vote they casted or opinion expressed in their respective house. 196 Therefore, the members of the house have functional immunity. As members of the parliament, the Prime minister is also entitled for such functional immunity. 197 The personal immunity from being arrested or prosecuted is also granted to the Prime minister, members of HPR and HOF. Accordingly, no member of the both House maybe arrested or prosecuted without the permission of the House except in the case of flagrante delicto .” 198 However, there is a discrepancy between the English and Amharic version of both articles. The Amharic version provides that any members of the both House who commit serious crime 199 shall not be arrested or prosecuted …‟ The English version, whereas, does not provide any reference about the gravity of the crime. Since the Constitution itself provides that the Amharic version shall prevail over the English, those persons are immune from arrest or prosecution for crimes of serious nature unless their immunity is stripped by HPR. Lastly, judges and others public officials like Parliament appointees (Ombudsmen and Human rights ibid Para 42 (Emphasis added. 195 HRC, Concluding Observation on USA, note 85, ibid. 196 FDRE Constitution, Art. 54 (5) and 63 (1). ibid Art. 73 (1) provides that the Prime Minister shall be elected from among members of the House of Peoples' Representatives. ibid Art. 54 (6) and Art. 63 (2). The Constitution does not provide what serious crimes means. However, by reading Article 108 of the New Criminal Code, one can deduce that serious crime is a crime punishable with 1 -25 years of rigorous imprisonment. Particularly seethe Amharic version of the CC. The crime use of improper method falls within this category of crimes (see Art. 424 of the CC. 200 FDRE Constitution, Art. 106.
