Amnesty International has requested members of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to reject efforts by the Ethiopian government to prematurely terminate the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE).
Last month, Ethiopia said it will table a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is currently in session, to terminate the mandate of the commission.
Ethiopia’s deputy Prime Minister, Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, said the commission work could undermine the African Union-led peace process and the implementation of the Peace Agreement with “inflammatory rhetoric”.
Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Flavia Mwangovya said the Ethiopian government’s efforts demonstrate its lack of commitment to delivering justice.
Flavia says millions who have suffered gross human rights violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, during the conflict in northern Ethiopia will be affected if such a decision is allowed.
“Discontinuing the mandate of the ICHREE will undermine the integrity of the Council. There will be serious consequences for the credibility of the Human Rights Council, and its approach to serious human rights situations in the global south, if its members agree with the Ethiopian government and vote to end the work of the ICHREE.”
She added that the ICHREE can play a vital role in paving the way towards a genuine, participatory, inclusive, contextualized, and human rights-compliant justice process that ensures justice and reparation for all victims and survivors of atrocities in Ethiopia.
“The ICHREE should be allowed to fulfill its full mandate and be able to access all areas in the country, including the Oromia Region, where there are reports of numerous cases of human rights abuses and violations.” Flavia Mwangovya said.
In December 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council established ICHREE, to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in Ethiopia.
This came after conflict broke out in northern Ethiopia two years ago and the commission was renewed in 2022 to run until September 2023.