The three experts are responsible for “conducting an in -depth and impartial investigation into allegations of human rights attacks” committed since the start of the conflict.
Le Monde with AFP
The UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights violations committed since the start of the conflict in the Tiger began, on Monday, July 25, its first visit to Ethiopia, the UN announced. This commission made up of three experts – a Kenyan, an American and an Sri Lankan – was created in December 2021 for a period of one year renewable by the Council of Human Rights (CDH) of the UN. It is in Ethiopia until July 30.
She is responsible, among other things, “to conduct an in -depth and impartial investigation into allegations of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law and that relating to refugees, committed in Ethiopia since November 3, 2020 by All parties to the conflict “at the tiger, recalls the CDH in a press release.
Monday, the Ethiopian government recalled in a statement that it initially refused to cooperate with this commission, before giving the green light to its arrival in Ethiopia. There is an “opportunity that the government reconsiders its position on the question of cooperation” with the commission if it “respects the position of the government” on various points and “if an agreement is reached on [its] methods of action “, Can we read in this text.
The program for the visit of the three investigators was not published, but they have already had an “exploratory discussion” on Monday in Addis Ababa, with Vice-Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, also Minister Foreign affairs, according to Fana BC, a media close to the government. “The experts are in Addis Ababa to discuss with government officials and other partners and try to find together acceptable terms of collaboration with the government in the context of their mandate,” said Fana BC.
Rebels ready to cooperate
The rebel authorities of the Tigrae have said they were ready, in recent days, to cooperate with the Commission, while accusing the federal government of “wanting to dictate the parameters and the field of the investigation, thus compromising its credibility”.
The Tiger conflict, which then spread to the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, was marked by numerous abuses in each camp. A joint survey of the UN and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC, Public Organization) had “already concluded at the end of 2021 to possible crimes against humanity committed by all actors”, recalls the UN.
The Tiger conflict began in early November 2020, when the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, sent the Federal Army, supported by regional forces of Amhara and the Eritrean army, to dislodge the rebel authorities of The Tiger region. Initially defeated, the rebels resumed current 2021 control of the region. The fighting has almost ceased since a truce in March, but the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic in the tiger, the region being difficult to access and private of telecommunications, internet or banks.