The UN International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia mandated to conduct a thorough and objective investigation into alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law.
Specifically, it will violation investigation International humanitarian law and international refugee law in the state of Ethiopia was committed to by the parties to the conflict in the Tigray region on 3 November 2020.
Meeting to visit
Originally created by Dong Nhan Quyen Association on December 17, 2021, the three-member Committee – consisting of Kaari Betty Murungi (Chairman), Steven Ratner and Radhika Coomaraswamy – concluded a five-day visit to the country where they met with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and other senior government officials.
Members hope that their meetings with officials will lead to “immediate and absolute access to attractions” as well as the ability to collect their opinions. .
The Commission is also tasked with providing guidance and recommendations on technical assistance to the Ethiopian Government on transitional justice, including accountability, mediation and healing.
In addition, members met with members of the National Dialogue Committee and Inter-Ministerial Task Force, the Ethiopian National Human Rights Commission, civil society, diplomats, United Nations agencies and staff in Ethiopia to discuss the current human rights situation in the country.
Poll continues
The committee presented first update to the Council on 30 June 2022 after United Nations-appointed investigators announced that they had launched an investigation into an alleged massacre of at least 200 people in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. .
Statement on the sidelines of Dong Nhan Quyen Association in Geneva at the time, Ms. Murungi said that as they continued their work investigating conflict-related rights violations in the northern Tigray region of Ethiopia that broke out in November 2020, the Commission received reports of murders in Western Oromia,
Despite many other conflicts around the world, Ms. Murungi stressed that the world must not ignore what is happening in Ethiopia.
“The continued spread of violence, fueled by hate speech and inciting violence on the basis of gender and ethnicity, are early warning signs of further atrocities against innocent civilians. criminals, especially women and children, who are more vulnerable”.
The Commission expects to submit a written report to the human rights body on this trip during its next session in September 2022.
Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council based in Geneva to examine and report back on a particular human rights topic or country situation. The positions are honorary and professionals are not paid for their work.
