The independent rights investigators' final report comes as their mandate ended on Friday, coinciding with the end of the UN Human Rights Council's 54th session, leaving victims in limbo. Established by the Council in December 2021, their brief from the Council was to conduct through and impartial investigations into alleged human rights violations in Ethiopia, perpetrated by all parties to the conflict since 3 November 2020. Steven Rather, an expert on the Commission, described the termination of the mandate as a "great blow" to victims seeking justice. This includes mass killings, widespread and systematic rape, sexual violence - including sexual slavery, deliberate starvation, forced displacement, and large-scale arbitrary detentions, all of which constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Some Tigray forces are also culpable for war crimes, including killings, widespread rape and sexual violence, destruction of property, and looting.

Source: Ethiopian News October 14, 2023 12:15 UTC