Ambassador Zembe Kebede accuses UN Human Rights Council of having been ‘hijacked’ and used as ‘instrument of political pressure’. The United Nations’ Human Rights Council is due to consider a draft resolution that, if adopted, will set up an international commission of rights experts investigate abuses in war-hit Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s government has slammed the decision to hold the special session and has urged countries to vote against the draft text. A joint investigation by the UN rights office and Ethiopia’s human rights commission warned last month that possible war crimes and crimes against humanity had been committed by all sides during the Tigray conflict. The government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission acknowledged in a statement this week that there was “value-added” in encouraging the joint investigation to continue, but said the creation of a new body “is repetitive, counterproductive to ongoing implementation processes, and further delays redress for victims and survivors”.

Source: Ethiopian News December 17, 2021 12:05 UTC