United Nations Establishes Commission To Investigate Human Rights Violations In Ethiopia
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(OPINION) On Dec. 17, the U.N. Human Rights Council, during its 33rd special session on Ethiopia, adopted a resolution establishing an international commission of experts on Ethiopia to conduct an investigation into allegations of human rights violations and abuses by all parties to the conflict. The resolution was adopted with the support of 21 countries — 15 were against and 11 abstained. According to the resolution, the new mechanism is to include three human rights experts to be appointed by the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council. The mechanism is to be mandated for one year and subject to renewals.
The new mechanism is to conduct a “thorough and impartial investigation into allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and international refugee law in Ethiopia committed since 3 November 2020 by all parties to the conflict,” “establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged violations and abuses, to collect and preserve evidence, to identify those responsible, where possible, and to make such information accessible and usable in support of ongoing and future accountability efforts,” and “provide guidance on transitional justice, including accountability, reconciliation and healing,” among others.
The development follows the recent escalation of hostilities in northern Ethiopia and new reports on the scale of the atrocities. Indeed, on Dec. 16, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch published findings of their joint investigations into the situation in Ethiopia. As they reported, “Amhara security forces are responsible for a surge of mass detentions, killings, and forced expulsions of ethnic Tigrayans in the Western Tigray territory of northern Ethiopia.” They added that “since the armed conflict began in November 2020, Western Tigray, a disputed administrative territory, has been the site of some of the worst atrocities, including massacres, indiscriminate shelling, and large-scale forced displacement of the Tigrayan population.”
During the special session, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada al-Nashif said that at least 2 million people across the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions have been displaced by the conflict. More than 400,000 people in Tigray were said to be living in famine-like conditions. This is as the government allowed only very limited relief into the region. Furthermore, following the nationwide state of emergency announced on Nov. 2, those believed to be sympathetic to the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front have been subjected to mass arrests. Similarly, thousands of ethnic Tigrayans, a dozen journalists and U.N. staff have been detained. Many of them are detained incommunicado.
Al-Nashif called upon all parties to the conflict to respect international calls for a ceasefire. Similarly, the adopted resolution urged all to “heed the repeated calls to immediately end hostilities and seek a permanent ceasefire, without preconditions, and to engage in the ongoing mediation efforts led by the African Union High Representative for the Horn of Africa Region.” This ceasefire is crucial as the ongoing conflict threatens to destabilize the whole country and the wider Horn of Africa region.
The new mechanism is the first step toward ensuring justice and accountability for victims and survivors. The process will be long. However, without such a mechanism, there is no prospect of justice in the future.
This piece was republished from Forbes with permission.
Ewelina U. Ochab is a legal researcher, human rights advocate, doctoral candidate and author of the book “Never Again: Legal Responses to a Broken Promise in the Middle East” and more than 30 U.N. reports. She works on the topic of the persecution of minorities around the world.